We are in a process where we may have difficulty finding our way

The Turkish Construction Materials Industrialists Association (Turkey IMSAD) held a meeting with industry stakeholders to discuss the evaluation of the global and Turkish economy. During the event titled "Sectoral Economic Agenda," Dr. Can Fuat Gürlesel, Turkey IMSAD Economic Advisor, shared his forecasts, stating that there is an expectation of contraction in the construction sector in Europe and the United States, and that a significant portion of Turkey's construction materials exports encompass these regions.

The first-ever "Sectoral Economic Agenda" meeting, organized by Turkey IMSAD with the contributions of Demirdöküm and GF Hakan Plastik, was held online.

"There are many reasons that make the upcoming period uncertain"

Tayfun Küçükoğlu, the President of Turkey IMSAD's Board of Directors, opened the event by saying, "We are in a process where there are many uncertainties, which can make it difficult for us to find our direction due to the effects coming from both our country and abroad, where our predictive power is being challenged, and our ability to project by looking back is becoming narrower." He continued:

"There are many reasons that make the upcoming period uncertain. We need to predict factors such as how the global economy will change and where its policies will evolve from these reasons in advance. On the other hand, the impact of economic policies and election effects in our country on our economy and our sector in the upcoming period is also crucial. If we can predict all these factors in advance and prepare accordingly, we are confident that we will contribute more to both our sector and our economy."

Record exports were achieved

Tayfun Küçükoğlu emphasized that the construction materials industry's total production and employment share have strategic importance for Turkey, stating, "Our sector represents the industrial side of the construction industry, which distinguishes itself from the contracting, architecture, real estate, and technical consultancy sectors with its contribution to our country's foreign trade, employment, and growth. Looking at the export figures, which amounted to $33.74 billion in 2022, we see that we have broken all-time export records. Although recession concerns and market slowdowns in the second half of the year prevented annual exports from exceeding $35 billion, a record was broken for the entire 12 months since the Turkey IMSAD Foreign Trade Index has been measured since August 2013. The Turkish construction materials industry has the capacity and innovative understanding to meet high demand both domestically and internationally. Therefore, I would especially like to underline that our sector will reach much better positions in the upcoming period."

Contraction in construction sector in the US and Europe predicted

Turkey İMSAD Economic Advisor Dr. Can Fuat Gürlesel, who shared his predictions about the world economy at the meeting, said: "As we entered 2023, the struggle against issues such as high inflation, tight monetary policies, high cost of living and financial instability came to the fore in the world economy. In this context, at the end of the first 5 months of the year, we have seen that the tight monetary policies implemented globally have yielded results, the energy crisis has been resolved and inflation has entered a downward trend. However, despite these positive developments, a below-average economic growth is projected for the whole of 2023. The construction sector is expected to shrink, especially in the US and Europe. We see the effects of the increase in housing loan interest rates and the decrease in the number of housing construction licenses on this situation. The expectation of shrinkage in these regions, which cover a large part of Turkey's construction materials exports, creates a negative situation for the exports of our sector."

Turkey's economic growth at 4 percent

Dr. Can Fuat Gürlesel also shared his analysis on the current state of the Turkish economy and said, "Macroeconomic indicators show that controlled monetary/ exchange rate policies are being implemented in our country. As a result, the foreign trade deficit in Turkey has increased to 120 billion dollars and the current account deficit to 55 billion dollars. However, despite this negative picture, economic growth is hovering around 4 percent."