TÜRKÇİMENTO CEO Volkan Bozay Appears as a Guest On Bloomberg HT Tv Live Broadcast

TÜRKÇİMENTO CEO Volkan Bozay answered Zeliha Saraç's questions on the "60 Dakika" program aired on Bloomberg HT TV on December 15, 2022.

In his remarks, Volkan Bozay said, “We are affected by the contraction in the construction sector, our most important stakeholder. When it comes to energy costs, two years ago, we were saying 65-70% about its share in our total costs. When we look at it today, the total cost of energy in cement production has climbed to the level of 85%. Our energy costs, particularly coal and electricity, have increased by four-five times.
In November 2022, an increase of 312% in electricity prices, 145% in imported coal prices, 113% in petcoke prices, and 140% in domestic coal prices took place on a TL basis compared to the same period of the previous year. Dollar exchange rate change also increased by almost 77% for the same period. For this reason, we can say that 2022 was not a positive year for our sector, as it was in other sectors.” 

In his assessment of the year 2023, Bozay said, “While evaluating the upcoming period, I would like to mention the fact that we were also affected by the fluctuation in the world economy. We anticipate that uncertainties will be more in 2023. As we cannot predict the developments especially in energy costs, the sector is having difficulty in making budgets. Because the costs cannot be determined, it is not possible to make long-term connections on the export side.” 

Inviting attention to the importance of a qualified workforce in the sector, Bozay said, “We are a heavy industry; therefore, a qualified workforce is important for our sector. We have approximately 17,500 employees, and we think that 20% of our employees will be affected by EYT, and severance pay will be added to the working capital with increasing costs. But we know that the Government will bring along certain studies. On the other hand, if we evaluate the wage increases, a large part of our employees are union members. For this reason, the wage increase of our employees will be determined by the collective bargaining agreement in a way that will not deprive our employees.”