Nurdogan A. ERGUN
A call for ‘transformation’ that will revitalize both the country’s economy and the market has come from the white goods industry, which has experienced a ‘dramatic’ decline in export and domestic sales. Accordingly, consumers are requested to be offered VAT, SCT support and at least 12 installment options in order to replace the items in use with energy-saving ones.
The Turkish white goods industry, which has been trying to balance the contraction in exports with sales in the domestic market since the beginning of this year, experienced a loss of 6 percent in exports and 3 percent in total sales in the first 9 months of 2024. The reflection of the decrease in sales on production was 4 percent in 9 months. White goods manufacturers experienced the real loss in September. The white goods industry, which faced a 15 percent decrease in domestic market sales in September this year compared to the same period in 2023, pointed out that the export loss in the same month was 34 percent and the production decrease was 37 percent.
Stating that the Turkish white goods industry has a production capacity of 33 million units and an export capacity of 23 million units, Turkish White Goods Industrialists Association (TÜRKBESD) President Gökhan Sığın stated that the production loss in 1 month was 1 million units. “If this increases to 4 million units, it means we have effectively lost a month,” said Sığın. Stating that the sector has not experienced any loss in employment as of today, Sığın said that losses will be inevitable if precautions are not taken. The white goods industry provides 60 thousand direct and 600 thousand indirect employment.
“Savings as much as 2 Keban Dams are possible”
While Gökhan Sığın stated that they are concerned about the decline in production levels becoming permanent, he pointed out that the widespread use of energy efficient products will be for the common benefit of the country, consumers and the industry. Sığa said, “We demand that the number of installments be increased, in addition to tax deductions such as VAT and SCT, so that consumers can switch to economical products.
“This will both save money in the country’s economy and prevent production loss by increasing domestic sales,” he said. Stating that they are worried that the decrease in production levels will be permanent, Sığa said, “We believe that this bottleneck can be overcome with an action plan that will be for the common benefit of our country, our consumers and our industry.
Our industry introduces more energy-saving products to the market every day. “These products protect our consumers’ pockets as well as natural resources,” he said. Sığı also shared the results of a recent study on the use of energy-efficient products: “If current market conditions continue, replacing refrigerators with more energy-efficient new generation devices in the next 10 years will bring savings as much as the 2-year production of the Keban Dam.
In other words, the annual electricity consumption of 4.3 million families can be saved.” Stating that this move will save as much as 2 Keban Dams, Sığa stated that in order to achieve this, the support of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance as well as the Ministry of Commerce is required.
“DIR legislation must be protected”
The Turkish white goods industry, which is the first in Europe and the second largest production center in the world with a production volume of 7 percent, also expects support on the export side.
TÜRKBESD Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors Fatih Özkadı drew attention to the difficulties and sustainable growth targets of the Turkish white goods industry in the global market. Özkadı said, “We are working in line with our sustainability and green transformation targets, but the cost advantage gained by Far Eastern manufacturers with government supports limits our competitiveness.”
Stating that increasing labor, energy and raw material costs pose a serious burden on industrialists, Özkadı said, “Preserving the gains in the Inland Processing Regime (DIR), increasing SSI premium support and providing appropriate financing conditions will increase the competitiveness of our exporters.”
“The increase in GEKAP “It reached 900 percent.”
TÜRKBESD Board Member Semir Kuseyri also shared his concern that the Recovery Participation Share (GEKAP), which is another pressure on the cost, negatively affects the vitality of the domestic market and restricts the growth potential of the sector.
Kuseyri said, “Especially, GEKAP amount increases, which are higher than the PPI and CPI increase rates starting from 2023, create additional pressure on the cost structure of companies. “As a matter of fact, while the unit prices applied in 2020 increased by approximately 900 percent as of September 2024, these increases in PPI and CPI were 544 percent and 400 percent, respectively,” he said.
“Antidumping weakens our hand in competition”
TÜRKBESD Board Member Mehmet Yavuz said that antidumping investigations on steel, which is the main input of the sector, weaken their hand in competition, and stated that the recently concluded antidumping investigation on hot rolled flat steel products originating from China, India, Japan and Russia, resulting in a high rate of definitive action, will directly affect the sector.
Stating that the dumping investigation against stainless steel products is continuing, Yavuz said, “With the introduction of a new sanction as a result of the antidumping investigation, there will be an increase in product costs in many sectors that consume stainless steel.
“As a result of this situation, employment in the sector and our global competitiveness will be negatively affected,” he said. Similarly, Yavuz pointed out that any additional tax for polystyrene, which is an important input material for white goods, would negatively affect product competition and exports, and stated that this would increase the price by one fifth.
Source: www.dunya.com
