Turkey aims to boost cement exports

By Ugur Aslanhan

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Turkish cement industry aims to increase exports by 10 percent year-on-year to 13 million tons in 2017, Ali Ozinonu, chairman of the Council of Cement and Soil Products Sector at the Turkish Exporters Assembly said on Tuesday.

"We exported 11.5 million tons of cement worth $600 million last year. There is a decrease compared to 2008 when the country exported 20.5 million tons of cement. However, we achieved to increase [cement exports] by 7 percent in 2016 [compared to 2015]," Ozinonu noted in his speech at the INTERCEM International Cement Conference.

Turkey's annual cement production capacity is around 110 million tons and the country consumes 65 million tons, according to Ozinonu.

Exports are mostly destined for African countries including the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Angola, he added.

Ozinonu underlined that new trade opportunities were being discussed at the INTERCEM International Cement Conference in Istanbul, which from Monday to Wednesday hosts 300 sector representatives from over 40 countries.