ChemOrbis Gaziantep Petrochemicals Summit: Facts on and future of Turkish Plastic Industry

Barbaros Demirci, a consultant to PAGEV, focused on the unstoppable growth of Turkish Plastics Industry and its future, making a brief analysis of the sector across the globe based on statistical data during his presentation at ChemOrbis Gaziantep Petrochemicals Summit at Divan Hotel Gaziantep, Turkey on April 27.

Demirci said that the production of plastics has been increasing globally for 65 years basically due to its low production and recycling costs as well as its richness in design and application. He highlighted that production of plastics increased by 4.1% between 2010 and 2015 to reach 325 million tons in 2016, with US and China being the largest suppliers of plastic products while Turkey is in the sixth place in this global competition.

In his presentation, he drew the attention to the fact that the plastics industry is one of the newest and the fastest growing sectors in Turkey, which has a production value of $35 billion and a share of 4% in the country’s GDP. He commented that the country also has an important role in the global plastics industry with its plastic product imports of 560,000 tons/year, worth $2.6 billion as well as its exports worth $4.5 billion to more than 200 countries.

He also stated that plastic products in Turkey are mostly used in the packaging sector, followed by construction, agriculture, durable goods, textile and automotive sectors. He also revealed data to show that Turkey is in the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 7th places as an importer of PP, PVC, PS and PE respectively.

Finally, Demirci highlighted the importance of the use of plastics in terms of the economy, employment, innovation as well as sustainable development and concluded his speech by revealing the 7-year plans of the Turkish plastics sector by 2023.