Kimpur started to produce raw materials for the defense industry

Handan Sema CEYLAN / FROM LOCAL TO GLOBAL

Kimpur, the “system house” with the largest capacity in Turkey, started to produce raw materials for the defense industry in addition to shoes, automobiles, white goods, furniture and insulation in the production of polyurethane systems. There are 380 “system houses” producing specialty products for chemistry in the world. Kimpur ranks 9th in the world with its capacity. It is the market leader in Turkey. 25 percent of the products they develop are in niche areas, and the company stepped into the defense industry with small but featured products.

According to the 2021 data, Kimteks Poliuretan San. ve Tic. AŞ, Kimpur CEO Cavidan Karaca evaluated the performance of the companies that went public in April to WORLD. Evaluating the development of their companies in the last 5 years, Karaca said, “We achieved annual growth of up to 20 percent in this period. We increased our capacity in Gebze from 65 thousand tons to 130 thousand tons. Again, we increased our sales volume, which was 25 thousand tons 5 years ago, to 88 thousand tons in 2021. Last year, our turnover was 2 billion 170 million TL. We also achieved a net profit of around 316 million TL.”

EXCEEDED 2021 NUMBERS IN THE FIRST 6 MONTHS

Karaca comments on the first 6 months of this year as follows: “With 50 thousand 700 tons in the first 6 months, we reached a turnover of 2 billion 187 million TL, which is greater than the turnover of last year. Again, we closed with a profit of 355 million TL, greater than the total profit of the previous year. Our business is going well. Despite the recession rhetoric in our markets, we are doing well. We continue our growth in product groups in the domestic market as well. We export to more than 45 countries.” Cavidan Karaca said, “Since we are a public company, we have to prove our claims. We purchased an important research on the industry. There are 380 system houses in the world, the capacity of all of them has been revealed in this report. According to this report, we are in the 9th place with our 129 thousand-ton capacity, our 25 thousand-ton Latvian investment and our Düzce investment. We are also the sector leader in the Turkish market.”

DUZCE WILL END IN 2023 IN 3 PHASE

Reminding that they put new investments on their agenda as their targets have grown, Karaca said, “We decided to invest in Düzce, which is one hour away from our Gebze facility, which is the highest incentive and benefits from the 6th Region incentives. In order to both increase our capacity and finance our investment, we held the public offering in April. Düzce investment is a special investment for us. The construction of the first phase of this investment, which we will implement in 3 phases, will be completed at the end of the year. Machine orders have been placed. The start of first production here will take place in the first quarter of 2023. The entire investment is 65 thousand tons. 50 thousand tons will be polyurethane, 10 thousand tons will be the complementary product in shoes, evagranure, and 5 thousand tons will actually be sustainable products from pet waste. It will be finished in three phases of 20 thousand tons. At the end of 2024, that is, in 3 years, we will complete the entire investment.”

PROCEDURE COMPLETED IN LATVIA, PRODUCTION STARTS

Karaca, the latest developments in the investment decision they took in Latvia in line with their global goals, said, “As of last year, we made the purchase and established our company. Completion of the procedures necessary for the start of production is also over. We will start production quickly. We have reached a capacity exceeding 200 thousand tons, 25 thousand tons of which is in Latvia.”

25 percent of production consists of niche products

Explaining that their greatest strength is product diversity and new material development, Karaca said, “AutomotiveWe develop products for the white goods, insulation, retail and footwear industries. Now we have added defense to these sectors. We can turn to the other sector when a sector falls or to other sectors in seasonal fluctuations. For example, we increased our sales in the domestic market for the footwear industry by around 20 percent. We increased our exports by 30 percent. We achieved this by producing products with lower weight. We got our share from our competitors. Although there is a shrinkage in white goods, we have increased our volume there. We have attracted our customers by performing the product performance that even global companies cannot do.”

Karaca is behind 90 percent of their growth R&D Noting that they have power, he said, “We have a team of 27 people in R&D. We have important ongoing projects with our customers within the scope of confidentiality agreements. We enable the use of some products that are not used today, we develop new materials both with universities and with our customers. Thus, the defense industry entered our radar. Maybe the quantities are not big but featured products. For example, we have a halogen free product. This is how we grow in terms of getting a share from the global. Roughly 25 percent of our production consists of niche products.”

The share of exports will reach 35 percent

Stating that they sent 27 percent of the production to export last year, Cavidan Karaca said, “The rate exceeded 30 percent in the first half of this year. We closed July with 38 percent and August with export rates over 40 percent. Our target was to complete the year at 30 percent, but we will close our share in exports at 35 percent. We aim to reach 40 percent in the foreign market in 5 years, but while doing this, we aim to grow in the domestic market as well. On the other hand, the US market and the South African market are the markets we have just entered,” he said.

20% of our energy will come from the sun

Cavidan Karaca, energy He reminded that intensive sectors fell into trouble due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Karaca said: “However, besides these difficulties, it also offers some opportunities. Europeans are our competitors, they are reducing their production. Therefore, their prices are also increasing. It seems that as Turkey, we will increase our market share. We also take measures for sustainable production. Our own solar energy “