The packaging industry, which focuses on production, export and employment, continues to contribute to Turkey’s total exports without interruption. The Turkish Packaging Manufacturers Association (ASD) has published its export figures report for 2021. The sector closed last year with an export value of 6.5 billion dollars with an increase in value of 26 percent. The top three exporting countries were the United Kingdom, Germany and Iraq, respectively. These countries were followed by the USA, Israel, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Egypt and Iran. The plastic packaging group made up 66 percent of 2021 exports. While paper/cardboard packaging had a share of 23 percent, metal packaging group had a share of 7 percent, glass packaging 3 percent and wooden packaging 1 percent.
“We must export half of what we produce”
Evaluating the export figures, Zeki Sarıbekir, President of the ASD, said, “Our sector exported 6.5 billion dollars in 2021 and increased its positive contribution to the current account deficit by giving a foreign trade surplus of 2.7 billion dollars. As the packaging industry, it has become more and more Aiming to export a lot, we are working to export at least half of the packaging we produce in Turkey.”
“Production costs have increased 3 times, VAT reduction should be for packaging”
Zeki Sarıbekir, who pointed out that energy and production costs have increased 3 times on average, said, “There are problems in supply. Problems in our region, Russia-Ukraine war, raw material shortage and container problem seriously affect our exports. “There are serious increases in commodity prices. On the other hand, the VAT rate in food has been reduced. The packaging industry is also an industry branch that serves the food industry. In this context, I believe that a VAT regulation can be made for our sector as well. The VAT rate should be reduced from 18 percent to 8 percent.”
“We must focus on the substitution of imports”
Zeki Sarıbekir, President of the ASD emphasized that the packaging industry exports from 5 different exporters’ associations and continued as follows, “If we want to increase the competitiveness of our products in the world market, we need to minimize the capital we spend on energy. Exporters’ associations should deal with exports, not imports. “It is very important that imported products are produced in Turkey as substitutes. We need to focus on substitution, not opening up imports. We need to ensure this for more value-added production and more exports. We must sweat for new Free Trade Agreements and pursue new markets.”
“The issue of sustainability cannot be postponed”
Zeki Sarıbekir said that they are not against the import of waste, but that it should be reduced and destroyed gradually, “I would like to emphasize that it is very important to recycle the waste material. While we bury our own waste, we buy the waste that someone else separates. We use our own waste as China does. We need to encourage China to develop its recycling industry. China bought the world’s plastic waste and developed its industry slowly and brought it to zero. For this, we must deal with systems that will improve collection and recycling in our country. We support the green OSB issue. The products produced here will also have a clear path. ISO 9000 first When it came out, those who did not have ISO 9000 certificate could not export. In the future, exporters with bad carbon records will not be able to export. This situation progresses in parallel with the increase in exports. Industry can be gathered in OIZs and removed from cities. We support all the time. As ASD, we believe that this should be kept on the agenda. Sustainability, environmentally friendly production Turkey’s future. When we prioritize environmental sustainability, our logistics, production quality and competitiveness will improve. We are entering a new era and those who cannot adapt to it will not be able to survive.”