İşbank: “We can supply 4-5 million tons of iron material to the earthquake area in a few months”

Speaking at the promotional launch of Proemtia, the digital marketplace platform for buyers and sellers, in order to mediate the trade of industrial products organized by Türkiye İş Bankası, Seyrek said that Turkey will have to build approximately 10 provinces and there will be a very serious iron and steel need.

Seyrek, 'We only have 6-7 factories in İskendurun, Osmaniye. This is a serious advantage, a serious advantage.' he said.

'We realize once again how strong your industry should be when faced with such disasters. We hope that God will not give us painful days and troubled days.' Sayrek continued:

' The reason why we decided on the iron and steel sector is first of all, we think that it is a very critical sector with a very strategic value for Turkey. Secondly, it is a sector in which we have entered the top 10 of the world from the 20s to the 17s in the last 15-20 years. We are the 8th largest iron and steel producer in the world. We are one of the first two players in Europe. Türkiye is a country that has seriously completed its infrastructures. Starting out in the iron and steel industry, we consider this platform as the first starting step of a long-term commodity platform journey.

To make our iron and steel industry a sector that produces higher quality steel with higher technology, has more market diversification, exports more, produces with high added value, has completed its industrialization, has taken the necessary steps in terms of sustainability, and also to make Turkey's value-added exports a value-added production. We want it to act as a catalyst that will enable it to comply with both the digital revolution and the requirements of industry 4.0. In addition to globalization, the world is also turning to a regional hub market. In my opinion, Turkey is a country that is capable of being one of the important centers in this important hub market, with its strategic location, logistics location, infrastructure and dynamic manpower.'

Stating that in today's world, 96 million of 100 million transactions per day are realized through digital channels, Seyrek said that digital trade has reached 20-25 percent in world trade, and the general trend is on the rise, although it lost some momentum after the pandemic.

- 'Our manufacturing industry is growing steadily except for 2019'

Veysel Yayan, Secretary General of the Turkish Steel Producers Association, stated that Turkey's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been developing regularly in recent years, and that the manufacturing industry is behind this development.

Yayan drew attention to the following:

' Our manufacturing industry is growing steadily, except for 2019. On the other hand, we cannot see the same stability in our steel industry. There are two years of absence, two years of absence. From time to time, the reasons arising from the steel industry in the world are effective. From time to time, the issues in Turkey come to the fore. If we look at it from this perspective, we had a good two years in 2016 and 2017, then there was no problem in the steel industry in the world in 2018, 2019, but our negative relationship with the former US President Donald Trump, especially his interventions in our banking sector, put the steel industry in trouble. We had troubled days such as obtaining even the scrap with the money taken from the hand. Later, the years 2020, 2021 were difficult years for the whole world.'

Proemtia General Manager Umut Feyzioğlu also announced that the procommodity platform has been completed as of today and that as of today, approximately 30 sellers have 100 thousand tons of products.

Feyzioğlu said, 'Today we will start accepting our buyers. We see that the e-commerce sector is growing very seriously in the B2C field in Turkey. By the end of 2022, 18.6% of the trade transactions realized in Turkey are realized through e-commerce platforms. In this, B2B platforms, that is, platforms that mediate business-to-business commerce, are extremely low, which shows that we have a way to go here.' said.

Stating that they want to create a platform that adds value to Turkey and protects buyers and sellers, Feyzioğlu said, "We want to implement a platform where e-commerce and financial services converge by providing financial services at the same time." he said.