Türkiye imports 23 billion dollars worth of petrochemical raw materials annually. Highlighting Türkiye's opportunity to become a hub for petrochemical raw material production, used in many sectors such as textiles, carpets, and automotive, İbrahim Erdemoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Erdemoğlu Holding, remarked, "According to our prediction, Türkiye will assume a leading 'big brother' role in the region."

Türkiye, which extracts and processes its own oil, is also increasing its oil import and processing trade with neighboring countries. The recent agreement with Iraq for the daily shipment of 1 million barrels of oil has increased Türkiye's role in connecting Gulf countries' crude oil to world markets, as well as producing petrochemical derivatives. We discussed this with İbrahim Erdemoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Erdemoğlu Holding, a group with petrochemical investments. After touring the Merinos factory in Gaziantep, İbrahim Erdemoğlu, describing SASA's investments, underlined Türkiye's growing need for petrochemicals and the importance of domestic production.

WE CAN CLOSE THE 23 BILLIONS DOLLARS DEFICIT

Stating that Türkiye imported approximately 23 billion dollars worth of petrochemical products last year, Erdemoğlu shared his prediction that the establishment of a new petrochemical hub in our region is inevitable as a result of the rivalry between China and the US. Erdemoğlu said, "If the US has a strategy to further confine China to the Asian region in the medium and long term, an alternative production base is needed in our geography to implement this. Who could this production base be? Looking at the global conjuncture, it cannot be Russia. Europe's current structure is not suitable for this. The Balkans do not have sufficient scale. In this case, three countries stand out, Türkiye, Iran, and Egypt. If you cannot have some of the products that China produces today manufactured in other countries in this geography, you cannot create an alternative to China's production power. Therefore, a new production base is needed in the region. The idea of ​​the approximately 25 billion dollars investment in Yumurtalık stems from this."

TÜRKİYE STANDS OUT

Erdemoğlu, explaining that Egypt has not yet achieved its industrial transformation, said, "Iran's problems are evident. That leaves Türkiye. In the picture we see, there is no strong alternative other than Türkiye. Türkiye will assume a kind of pioneering, central, or 'big brother' role in the region. Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt will be around it. Türkiye will be the central country in the production and supply system of this geography. Adana Ceyhan-Yumurtalık stands out. One of the most critical issues in production will be logistics. Companies and countries that can minimize logistics costs will be successful. This is one of the most important reasons for China's current success. The second element is economies of scale. It will become increasingly difficult to remain competitive in the world with small production structures. Compared to a product you send from Yumurtalık to Ankara, Syria is much closer. Compared to a product you send to Istanbul, markets like Iraq and Egypt become much closer in terms of logistics.”

'THIS INVESTMENT IS ACTUALLY A NATIONAL PROJECT'

Stating that SASA is not just a company, but a strategic project directly on a national scale, İbrahim Erdemoğlu stated, "In our understanding, there is the country, the state, and the nation. There are also developments supporting this. It is important that the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Treasury and Finance have strengthened their support and incentive mechanisms. A significant portion of these were realized this year. Our master plan for our 20-25 billion dollar investment has been ready for approximately four years. We have prepared what we will produce. We have determined which technology we will use. The land is also ready."

Source: Yeni Şafak