Turkish market has a bright outlook.
state-of-the-art in the field,” says Juho Rossi , Technical Customer Service Manager at Metsä Fibre. Tissue production is concentrated in the western part of Turkey, home to the country’s biggest city, Istanbul, and the major industrial hubs of Izmir and Bursa. Smaller local producers, with older machinery, operate in other parts of the country. “We do business with all the major players in Turkey, both in tissue and other end use products,” says Kustaa Laine. Aktül Kağit is a good example of a Turkish paper pro- ducer that is increasing its production. It produces tissue paper in Pamukova, close to Istanbul. The company has an annual capacity of 140,000 tonnes in paper production and 120,000 tonnes in converting. “We continue to make new investments. For example, in 2021 we acquired a paper machine that will increase our production capacity by 70,000 tonnes,” says Zeynep Çelenk , Procurement Manager at Aktül Kağit. MAIN EXPORT MARKETS IN THE MIDDLE EAST Aktül Kağit produces private labels for leading local store chains and exports products. The company also supplies jumbo rolls to converting plants in Turkey and abroad. Zeynep Çelenk says competition is tough in the Turkish tissue market. “There is currently an oversupply of tissue products. We and all our competitors are making more investments in new production capacity, aiming to satisfy the growing demand on export markets.”
Consumer products made in Turkey have gained a strong foothold in neighbouring countries. The same is true of tissue products, where exports have risen steeply in recent years. Countries in the Middle East are the main export mar- kets, but Russia and Caucasia are also important. Turkey also exports tissue paper as jumbo rolls to Eu- rope, where it is upgraded into end products. PROMISING OUTLOOK FOR FUTURE GROWTH Onur Pervanlar believes that investments in new tissue production capacity are justified. Population and economic growth promise a bright market outlook long into the future. Turkey’s population is expected to increase from some 85 million now to 100 million by 2040. The country’s population is also relatively young: 23 per cent of the inhabitants are under 14. The corresponding figure for Finland is 16 per cent. “In Turkey, the consumption of tissue paper per person is only around six kilograms annually, compared to 20–25 kilos in western Europe. Consumption is even lower in Turkey’s neighbours. This offers great market potential for tissue paper and thus for pulp in the future,” she says. METSÄ FIBRE HAS A STRONG FOOTHOLD IN TURKEY Metsä Fibre mainly exports long-fibre pulp to Turkey and has secured a strong foothold in the country. “We are the market leader in Nordic long fibre pulp in Turkey,” says Kustaa Laine.
Kustaa Laine Vice President, Sales, at Metsä Fibre, in charge of pulp sales in the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. He has also worked in technical customer service and different roles in sales.
Juho Rossi Technical Customer Service Manager at Metsä Fibre. He has worked in customer service at Metsä Fibre since 2014, and before that in production at Metsä Board.
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