We had an interview with Sertuğ Melih Başol

Rota Kimya has been operating in the field of leather and finishing chemicals since 1976. In the interview we held, Rota Kimya Sales and Marketing Manager Sertuğ Melih Başol gave information about the company's fields of activity and the products they offer.

Could you please tell us about yourself and your professional background?

I was born in Istanbul in 1981. After elementary school, I attended Sankt Georg Austrian High School and graduated from Boğaziçi University Chemical Engineering Department in 2005. I began my professional career at LG Chem as a sales representative, a petrochemical company of LG Group. Later I worked as export manager at Azelis Turkey and subsequently as sales manager at Arkema France. I have been working full-time at our family company Rota Kimya since 2016.

Could you please provide information on the history of Rota Kimya and your activities in the adhesive industry?

Rota Kimya was established in 1976 by chemist M. Öner Başol as a family company producing leather chemicals and PVA-based adhesives. We continued our activities in the leather industry until the 1998 economic crisis in Turkey. After that we focused our activity mainly on shoe finishing chemicals (paints, colorants, finishes) for footwear manufacturers and chemicals for the sole and leather bags industry. Through our R&D activities we started production of water-based adhesives in 2015, and solvent-based adhesives in 2017. We are one of the few manufacturers globally in the water-based adhesives sector. Our aim is to supply adhesives with good price and performance value to our customers, which is why our volumes increase every year. [caption id="attachment_151911" align="aligncenter"] Sertuğ Melih Başol[/caption]

Could you please provide information on the products and services Rota Kimya offers? What are your target industries?

We focus on 5 product ranges: shoe finishing chemicals, leather finishing chemicals, edge finishes for leather goods manufacturers, shoe and leather care products, and adhesives. Our leather finishing chemicals are used mainly in tanneries. Our shoe finishing chemicals, sole finishes, adhesives and leather goods finishes are used during the production of footwear, bags and soles both locally and globally. We supply our shoe and leather care items to shops and also through online marketing. We produce shoe care products for the US and Canada under private label as well. In summary, our target markets include all fields related to leather and adhesives. We can produce customized solutions for the footwear industry in a short timeframe, and we continue our activities to supply chemicals to other industries such as industrial products, furniture, automotive, and others.

Could you inform us about your domestic and international activities?

Our office, R&D and production facility are located in Istanbul's İkitelli Industrial Zone. In Istanbul, our customers—shoe, sole and leather goods manufacturers—are located mainly in the İkitelli and Merter areas. On the Anatolian side of Turkey, we have dealers in cities including Gaziantep, Konya, İzmir, Adana, Antakya and Manisa. Large footwear manufacturers with major chain stores are also among our customers. We export 35% of our production to over 20 countries including Iran, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Morocco, Egypt, USA, Canada, Russia, Japan, India and Pakistan, and we represent our company at international trade fairs for shoe and leather, such as Lineapelle in Italy.

How was 2022 for Rota Kimya? Do you have new projects for 2023?

2022 was primarily a year of difficulties and changes globally following the pandemic, with raw material supply problems and cost increases due to the energy crisis following the war between Ukraine and Russia, and production cost increases due to rising exchange rates locally. Despite difficulties both locally and globally, we finished the year with a 28% increase in sales volume. For our 2023 targets, we aim to relocate our production of leather chemicals and adhesives to our new factory in Istanbul's Tuzla to increase our production capacity. In the adhesives range, we also plan to invest in new areas such as furniture, foam and hot-melt alongside our water-based and solvent-based adhesives. We also plan to expand our product portfolio in water-based adhesives, which is an increasing trend globally due to environmental and worker health concerns.

Could you please inform us about the innovation and R&D studies conducted by Rota Kimya?

As Rota Kimya, we give increasing attention to R&D and innovation daily, although we are known as a solution partner in the field. We work towards producing adhesives and leather finishing chemicals that are mainly imported into Turkey as key ingredients, in order to reduce our import dependency and increase our competitiveness in global markets. Additionally, compliance with international norms on environmental and human health concerns will be one of our main responsibilities.