‘Energy efficient product’ suggestion for low sales of white goods

Gamze Bal

Created Date: November 01, 2024 04:00

The losses experienced by the Turkish white goods industry, which is the second largest production center in the world with its annual production capacity of 33 million units, in both domestic sales and exports have deepened recently.

According to data from the Turkish White Goods Manufacturers Association (TÜRKBESD), domestic sales fell by 15 percent, exports by 34 percent and production by 37 percent on an annual basis in September 2024. While there was a 4 percent increase in domestic sales in the first 9 months of the year, it was noteworthy that exports decreased by 6 percent in the same period due to the effects of the conditions in foreign markets. With the impact of these developments, production decreased by 4 percent in the first 9 months of this year. This caused the production of the sector, which has an annual production capacity of 33 million units, to be limited to 23.5 million units in the January-September 2024 period.

There is a serious monetary tightening within the scope of the anti-inflation plan; Reminding that interest rates increased and the number of installments decreased in this context, TÜRKBESD President Gökhan Sığın pointed out that these developments accelerated the decline in the domestic market and said that the decline was not surprising. What attracted attention was the study submitted to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources by the sector, which was worried that the decline in production would be permanent, in order to maintain the current conditions in the domestic market and therefore to ensure that steps were taken to facilitate the citizens’ purchase of white goods.

SAVINGS-PROVEN ACTION PLAN REQUEST

Explaining the details of the work carried out by the technical committees and submitted to the ministry, Sığa said, “Changing the refrigerator when the time comes, saves 51 kilowatt-hours per household. If current market conditions continue, replacing refrigerators with more energy-efficient new generation devices in the next 10 years will save 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,” he said. “We believe that any incentive that will make it easier for consumers to access energy efficient products will contribute to the national wealth,” said Sığın, adding, “I believe that the bottleneck can be overcome with an action plan that will be for the common benefit of our consumers and our industry. With developing technologies and innovations, 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.

‘COSTS ARE A SERIOUS BURDEN’

On the other hand, TÜRKBESD Deputy Chairman Fatih Özkadı, who gave information about the details of the loss of blood experienced by the sector in exports, drew attention to the pressure of the high production capacity of the Far East on the exports of the sector. Özkadı pointed out that Far Eastern manufacturers have a cost advantage with state supports, which limits the competitiveness of Turkish industrialists, and emphasized that the increasing costs of labor, energy and raw materials in the domestic market pose a serious burden on industrialists. Özkadı said, “Preserving the gains in the Inward Processing Regime (DIR), increasing SSI premium support and providing appropriate financing conditions will increase the competitiveness of our exporters.”