The Paints Sector Convenes at İKMİB Workshop

The Paints Sector Future Research Workshop was held by the Istanbul Chemical Substances and Products Exporters Association (İKMİB) on 12-13 November 2021 in Antalya. The workshop, bringing together the paints sector, addressed the current state and future of the industry. The third sectoral workshop, in which problems and solution proposals for İKMİB's sub-sectors were addressed together with detailed discussion of the sector's expectations, was held on 12-13 November 2021 for the paints sector. The "Paints Sector Future Research Workshop" organised in Antalya under İKMİB's hosting was attended by İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister, İKMİB Board Member Ahmet Faik Bitlis, İKMİB Audit Board Member and TİM Delegate Kenan Baytaş, İKMİB TİM Delegate Ersin Kenan Kayalar, İKMİB TİM Alternate Delegate Muhittin Özdemir, TOBB Chemistry Industry Council Chairman Timur Erk, Paint Manufacturers Association (BOSAD) Board Chairman Mehmet Akın Akçalı, Istanbul Health and Technology University (İSTÜN) Faculty of Health Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Gürkaynak, leading companies in the sector, representatives from the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Health, Treasury and Finance Ministry, and representatives of the Paint Manufacturers Association. On the first day of the two-day workshop, a presentation was made by İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister on activities conducted before and during the pandemic and upcoming events in the future period. BOSAD Chairman Mehmet Akın Akçalı and İSTÜN Dean Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ali Gürkaynak also made assessments regarding the sector in their speeches. Over the two days, expectations and opportunities for the sector's future were addressed, while problems and solution proposals for the sector were also discussed.

Strategic Steps Determined

In the roundtable discussions held, evaluation was conducted on a broad scope ranging from access to financing to logistics, from new international regulations to high value-added products, and through collaborative efforts, solution proposals to take the paints sector into the future and strategic steps to be taken in the short and medium term were determined.

Adil Pelister: "Our Chemistry Sector's Export Target for 2023 is 30 Billion Dollars"

İKMİB Board Chairman Adil Pelister, who delivered the opening speech of the Paints Sector Future Research Workshop, provided information about the activities carried out by İKMİB to date, and said: "We are working with all our strength to take our 16 sub-sectors' exports further and to advance our country's exports to a higher level. We achieved an export of USD 18.3 billion in 2020. Our target for 2021 was to exceed USD 20 billion. With the increases in commodity prices coming worldwide as well as increases in unit quantities, we will hopefully end this year at USD 24 billion. Our target for the coming year is USD 26.5 billion, and in 2023, in our chemistry sector's centennial year, our target is to approach an export figure of USD 30 billion."

"Chemistry Sector is a Sector Making Serious Contributions to Our Country"

Pelister, pointing out that part of the difference between exports and imports in the chemistry sector is used as energy and fuel consumption and the other part is supplied to 27 sectors as raw materials, semi-finished or finished products, said: "For example, the automotive sector has USD 32 billion in exports. In that, our paints, plastics, rubber, and adhesives are included. When we also consider the chemical products in the textile materials used, approximately 17 percent of the share in automotive exports is from chemistry. Therefore, we are a sector making serious contributions to our country."

"Export Per Kilogram Unit Value Should Be Increased"

Pelister, noting that the chemistry sector's export per kilogram unit value is below USD 1, the country average, said: "This is because especially some of the inorganic and organic chemicals have low value per ton. But we have high value-added products as well. Our per kilogram value in the pharmaceutical sector reaches USD 25. Our paints sector's per kilogram export value is USD 1.5. I believe we need to raise this USD 1.5 export value higher."

"Investment in Green Energy Must Be Made and Supported"

Pelister, emphasizing that many investments need to be made for the chemistry sector in our country, particularly petrochemistry investments and other major investments and energy investments, said: "Among these, investment in green energy in particular must be made. Our chemistry sector consumes significant amounts of energy. Energy investments also require serious support. For our sector to move forward, investments need to increase. To be able to make investments, there is a need in particular for chemistry clustering. We face difficulties in accessing raw materials. Furthermore, currency volatility and high interest rate problems increase our SMEs' costs and lead to capital insufficiency. One of the biggest problems of our paints sector is especially the difficulty in sending samples. On this matter, we as İKMİB conducted joint work with Turkish Airlines Aviation Academy and UPS and signed an agreement. Under this agreement, we ensured that our member companies receive IATA certification training. Our companies can send dangerous materials via air cargo."

"We Will Put the Chemistry Technology Center into Operation in 2022"

Pelister, explaining that as İKMİB they have been working on the Chemistry Technology Center project for two years, continued his words as follows: "We have begun establishment work on a Chemistry Technology Center where our companies in the chemistry sector can especially obtain certifications, where there are accredited laboratories, start-up areas, research conferences can be held, and where there is also a digital library. We will put the Chemistry Technology Center into operation within 2022. We will first serve our paints, plastics and plastic products, cosmetics, and rubber sectors. Furthermore, I believe there is a necessity for a Turkey Chemistry Agency to be established in Turkey. Hopefully our work on this will yield positive results in the near future. On the other hand, in the coming period, our companies will face border carbon tax when selling products to EU countries. Therefore, we must definitely prepare our paints sector before border carbon tax is introduced."