Gentaş Kimya: A Success Story Focused on Technology, Investment and Export

Report: Murat Soygür

Through quality-focused production, strong R&D infrastructure and sustainable approach, Gentaş Kimya continues to be one of the leading companies in the sector. In the report we conducted, Gentaş Kimya Chairman of the Board Macit Aydın shared valuable information with our readers about the products and services the company offers, as well as its export strategies and sustainability policies.

Could you briefly tell us about yourself and your professional background?
I was born in Ordu in 1957. After graduating from the Chemistry Department of Ege University, I started my professional career at Bufer Elektrik in 1983. In the early years of my career, I worked in various sectors and organizations, gaining experience in both technical and managerial fields. Between 1986–1992, I held middle and senior management positions at various companies. This period allowed me to gain significant expertise in production, operations and organizational management.
In 1992, I took on the role of factory manager at Fitaş Kimya ve Pigment Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. Between 1999–2000, I worked as a founding partner and general manager at Alican Kimya Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Şirketi. Subsequently, in 2020, I co-founded Gentaş Kimya with Orhan Kahraman. I currently continue my duties as general manager and board member at the company. Additionally, I serve on the board of GEBKİM Foundation and GEBKİM Organized Industrial Zone, actively contributing to efforts that support industrial development.

How would you briefly summarize the founding story of Gentaş Kimya and its current sectoral position?
Gentaş Kimya was established in 2000 to resolve inconsistency issues in the quality and supply of resins used in the production of Gentaş Dekoratif. In the initial stage, we focused solely on producing phenol and melamine-based resins needed by Gentaş Dekoratif. Over time, we recognized that our technical knowledge, R&D infrastructure and production capabilities could serve a much broader sectoral area. With our first major investment, we relocated to Tuzla Kimya Organized Industrial Zone, commissioned our formaldehyde facility, and began producing impregnation resins and adhesives and resins used in veneer, particle board, MDF and plywood production for the forest products sector. In line with increasing demand and capacity requirements, in 2017 we made a new investment decision in the GEBKİM Organized Industrial Zone in Gebze Dilovası. This facility, completed in 2023 with approximately USD 70 million investment, significantly increased both our production capacity and product diversity. As a new phase in this growth journey, we brought our company to the capital markets. On Friday, 6 March, we rang the opening bell and our company shares began trading on Borsa Istanbul Main Market. Through the IPO we conducted, we strengthened our corporate structure and entered a new era supporting our sustainable growth targets. Today, Gentaş Kimya has reached a strong position in the sector with a broad product portfolio covering phenol formaldehyde, urea formaldehyde and melamine formaldehyde-based resins, as well as Neogen acrylic sheet (solid surface) and novolak-type phenolic resins, serving both domestic and export markets.

Could you briefly describe Gentaş Kimya's product portfolio and the sectors in which these products are predominantly preferred?
As of today, Gentaş Kimya manufactures seven main product groups. These are: formaldehyde solutions, urea formaldehyde resins, melamine formaldehyde resins, phenol formaldehyde resins, casting resins, novolak resins and acrylic sheets. Our resin products are widely used particularly in wood-based panel industry, decorative laminate industry, glass/stone wool insulation products, furniture and construction sector, metal casting, abrasives and other industries, primarily in the construction and construction materials, furniture and decoration, and automotive and automotive parts sectors. Acrylic sheets marketed under our Neogen brand are preferred in construction and interior applications, particularly due to their antibacterial properties; in kitchen and bathroom countertops, reception desks, wash basins, furniture such as tables and cabinets, wall coatings, laboratory countertops, hospital surfaces and various industrial applications.

How do you describe your competitiveness in international markets? Could you speak about your export strategies?
Our competitiveness in international markets is built on a growth model supported by strong domestic production infrastructure and export-oriented, high-value-added products. Particularly with our acrylic sheet investment under the Neogen brand, we aim to be an effective player in highly competitive markets, especially in the United States and Europe. Today, we export to a wide geography including the United States, Europe, Russia, Turkic Republics, Middle East and North Africa. While the share of exports in our acrylic sheet sales is steadily increasing, by 2030 we aim to achieve a market share of 1–2 percent in the global acrylic sheet market. In the coming period, we plan to increase our R&D investments, add higher value-added and innovative products to our portfolio, and thereby further strengthen our position in global markets. Another important pillar of our export strategy is the Novolak investment. In order to overcome the limited shelf life of liquid resins and the logistics challenges created particularly in distant markets by high transportation costs, we have completed the investment in our manufacturing facility for novolak, a solid phenol formaldehyde resin developed with our own know-how, which is used as a performance binder in various sectors such as brake linings, sand coatings, refractory industry and stone cutting discs. With our Novolak product, which we began test production in 2024 and moved to series production as of 2025, we aim to both contribute to reducing imports and capture a share of the global phenolic resin market. With this investment, while expanding our export reach to distant markets such as Asia, Europe and the Americas, we aim to further increase our export share, which stood at approximately 21 percent of total sales as of September 2025. In doing so, we aim to increase our export revenues while contributing to Turkey's economy's sustainable growth and reducing the current account deficit.

What role does sustainability play in Gentaş Kimya's corporate strategy?
Sustainability is not merely an environmental matter for Gentaş Kimya; it is one of the fundamental elements of how we conduct business and our long-term growth strategy. On the product side, we are working to produce and develop bio-based resins, and aim to develop more climate-friendly products to reduce our carbon footprint. Additionally, we are making significant investments to make our production processes more environmentally friendly. Under this scope, we have commissioned our solar energy investment of approximately 1 MW capacity. Furthermore, with our cogeneration system and 2.3 MW capacity steam turbine investment, we plan to recover energy generated during production and generate electricity. Through these investments, we aim to meet approximately half of our total energy needs from renewable and recovered sources. We approach sustainability in our operations end-to-end. We recover and treat 90 percent of our water consumption and return it to our production processes. We collect all waste generated in our production and office areas under appropriate storage conditions and transfer them to licensed recycling companies; as a facility with a Zero Waste Certificate, we conduct our waste management processes in accordance with regulations and our sustainability targets. Accordingly, we have designed our factory to comply with current environmental standards. All these efforts clearly demonstrate that we are not focused only on today's needs; we operate with an understanding that protects natural resources, looks to the future and places sustainable growth at the center.