Fatih Yücelik, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TÜRKÇİMENTO, CNBC-e Winning Strategy Program

Fatih Yücelik, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of TÜRKÇİMENTO, appeared as an on-air guest of Güzem Yılmaz Ertem in the Kazandıran Strateji (the Winning Strategy) on CNBC-e on 13 February 2025.

Sharing his evaluation of 2024, Yücelik says “In 2024, domestic sales scaled up for the last year and a half due to the impact of the ongoing construction of earthquake housing and urban transformation projects. It should be underlined here that the base effect compared to the previous year played a major role in this upward trend. The public saving package is now being implemented and this may reduce the number of construction projects in the public sector. In addition, the contraction in demand for the housing sector in 2024 is directly proportional to the changes in the interest rates of housing loan in particular. The major reason for the contraction in demand for the construction sector was the decrease in purchasing power of housing and the general slowdown in the sector. We expect that a possible decrease in interest rates would boost the housing industry and positively impact demand for cement.” 

Yücelik indicates: “Although the increase in foreign exchange is an advantage in import inputs, the general income appears to have decreased even though certain tonnages have increased in the cement in terms of exports. Therefore, a major growth is not expected in the domestic market, and condition of foreign markets becomes more important. We anticipate that the reconstruction processes, especially in Syria and Ukraine, would reflect as a very busy year. Although expectations are positive, all these developments will determine the export performance of the cement industry.

Turkish cement industry is the second largest exporter in the world and we are among the world's most critical manufacturers, the 5th largest manufacturer in the world. So, we always take action to protect both new markets and existing markets. For 2025, we aim for a growth that is close to the inflation rate.”