Dr. Tamer Saka, Chairman of the TÇMB Board Of Directors, Hosted Live by Bloomberg Ht

Dr. Tamer Saka, Chairman of the TÇMB Board of Directors, responded to the questions of Hande Berktan on the program "İş Dünyası” on February 6th, 2020.  

In the program oriented to how safe buildings must be in consideration of the fact that we are living in an earthquake country and to the assessment of the latest status of the cement sector, Saka started his speech by extending his condolences to those who lost their lives in the earthquake. He said, “In 2019, the cement sector experienced a difficult year and the shrinkage on our domestic market came to about the level of 30%. When it comes to the 10-year period between 2009 and 2019, our capacity has almost doubled. A significant capacity surplus emerged with the shrinkage on our domestic market. Nevertheless, the sector directed such deficit to export. We exported 23 million-ton cement and clinker with an increase of about 70%.  

Saka responded to the question of "How must earthquake-resistant and safe structures be” as “Upon the earthquakes experienced, the earthquake regulations were changed in particular areas. Presently, there is no problem in the legislative infrastructure in Turkey. We encounter problems do the setbacks experienced in application. Concrete's cost in a construction is at the ratio of 3% and it plays a part as a backbone in the construction sector. Even when such small cost is avoided, destruction becomes inevitable. We must ensure that our citizens are able to make even very simple quality calculations and focus their preferences on such quality when buying houses. If we can direct the consumer this way, we can create a significant amount of difference.”