Interview with Hasancan Özyurt, Chemical Products Group Manager at CHT Turkey

We conducted an engaging interview with Hasancan Özyurt, Product Group Manager for Adhesives and Construction Chemicals at CHT Turkey Kimya. Özyurt provided detailed information about CHT's products and technologies. Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your education and professional background? [caption id="attachment_102839" align="alignleft"] Hasancan Özyurt[/caption] I hold a bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations from Yeditepe University and an MBA from Istanbul University. After working in business development, brand management and export development across various sectors, I joined CHT Turkey Kimya in 2016. I serve as Product Group Manager for our water-based adhesives and construction chemicals product range, which we manufacture in Turkey.

Could you provide information about CHT's establishment and the stages it has gone through to reach its current state? What is CHT's structure today?

CHT Group began operations in 1953 in Tübingen Neckar, Germany, with the production of textile auxiliary chemicals. CHT Turkey Kimya was established as a subsidiary of CHT Group in Istanbul in 1990. It achieved rapid growth due to strong interest from the Turkish textile industry. Through our investment policy, we now conduct production, storage, quality control and research and development activities within 20,000 m² of open space and 8,000 m² of covered space. In 2007, CHT Group acquired TUT Yapıştırıcı, a company with over 50 years of experience and expertise in the adhesive sector in Turkey. With TUT Yapıştırıcı joining CHT Group, emulsion polymer production began within our company. The combination of TUT Yapıştırıcı's experience of over 50 years and CHT Group's production technology and standards has positioned CHT Turkey Kimya as an influential player in domestic and international markets.

Could you provide information about the products and brands CHT offers in the adhesives category? Which sectors are particularly demanding these products?

Under the TUBIBOND and TUT brands, we provide products and services to paper packaging, packaging and wood technology sectors in domestic and international markets. In our customer portfolio, where technical service and product quality sustainability are key, our objective is to increase production efficiency. Our goal is to ensure our customers maintain uninterrupted operations, particularly at a time when the packaging sector is of critical importance.

The packaging sector is one of the growing star industries in our country receiving continuous investment. The continuous increase in e-commerce and the number of packaged products is also increasing per capita packaging consumption by individuals. What end products does CHT's solutions in the paper packaging sector cover?

The increase in e-commerce over the last 10 years and global trends have driven increased investment in the paper packaging sector. We continually hear news about new paper mill investments in Turkey. In these processes, we serve our customers with end products such as corrugated cardboard boxes, offset boxes, flour-tea-food bags, retail paper bags and cement bags by providing the carrier and binding properties of packaging. One of the biggest global trends is recycling. In this process, keeping pace with companies' continuously changing paper types and machine modifications, and modernizing our products accordingly, has made us a preferred technical partner in the paper packaging sector. You can see the strength and signature of CHT adhesives in millions of paper packages and bags. In recent years, with paper chemicals manufactured at CHT Germany and CHT Brazil, we have started to provide chemical process solutions to paper production, becoming a company that provides end-to-end service for paper packaging. The chemicals we propose for these processes are enzymes, dust-preventing agents, foam suppressants, water-repellent and oil-repellent barrier coatings, and general functional coatings. You can examine our product range in detail on our website.

Could you tell us about your domestic and international sales activities? Which regions do you primarily supply with what types of products domestically and internationally?

As CHT Turkey, we serve our customers domestically through our central Istanbul factory and 3 regional warehouses (Çorlu, Bursa, Gaziantep), utilizing our supply chain optimally. With our regional sales managers in the Thrace-Istanbul, Bursa, Aegean and Gaziantep regions, we provide rapid response and technical support to our customers. CHT Turkey, as the polymer hub of CHT Group, which operates with its own facilities and offices in 25 countries, conducts exports to those countries in cooperation with all CHT group companies and serves 100 countries through CHT group distributors and representatives. While exporting from Turkey to more than 50 countries, we also conduct continuous export research for new markets. We even export adhesives to Australia for the packaging sector. The references from our top-tier customers in Turkey for the products we manufacture in Turkey and market worldwide are the greatest proof of our cooperation.

Could you provide information about the technologies CHT has developed, particularly in the adhesives field, and your R&D work?

With our R&D and application laboratory team composed of graduates from Turkey's leading universities and shaped by CHT's vision, we produce functional products while monitoring trends in our country and worldwide. Through our communication with CHT group companies in 25 countries, we develop projects by assessing needs and demands that stand out in different parts of the world. Our newly developed products for recycling, more efficient and faster production are beginning to gain market share in Turkey and foreign markets. Our biodegradable and recyclable adhesives are increasingly coming to the fore in the paper packaging sector. In addition to our standard product range, our openness to custom solutions keeps our R&D team continually dynamic and we develop cross-sector projects. I can say that the strong water-based adhesives we have developed against solvent-based adhesives and sustainable products are currently our company's R&D focal points.

Could you provide information about CHT's environmental policy and sustainability approach? What can you tell us about your work related to worker health and safety?

Sustainability is the main focus of CHT Group's 2025 strategy. In all projects we undertake today, we examine products not only for efficiency compared to competitors, but also from many perspectives such as compatibility with recycling, biodegradability and customer energy efficiency, and we incorporate projects into our R&D process. We support this transformation with our sustainable water-based products that we supply to the paper packaging sector, which leads in reducing plastic packaging use. By achieving the performance of solvent-based products with water-based, environmentally friendly products, we care for both the health of the industry and the health of our employees. At our Istanbul-Hadımköy plant facilities, we conduct production following a clean manufacturing philosophy with the most advanced filtration and treatment capabilities. CHT, which holds environmental certifications and sustainability reports, has become a leading company in sustainability in its own sectors.