Investment adds value

INVESTMENT

ADDS VALUE

Leading Turkish steel maker Cemtas Celik is consistently meeting the challenges of supplying steel and steel products to the domestic and international market. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to general manager Nuri Ozdemirel to find out how this is being achieved.

Established in 1972 in Bursa, Turkey to supply the growing demand for steel in the country, Cemtas Celik Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S has continually expanded to become an important player both locally and internationally. As a manufacturer and marketer of steel and steel products, joint stock company Cemtas Celik is a subsidiary of Bursa Cimento Fabrikasi A.S.

Metal producer and integrated steel producer Cemtas Celik offers products in two key areas from its steel plant, rolling mill and test laboratory all located in Bursa. The products are defined by the manufacturing process they require, with the steel melt shop process and rolling process able to deliver items including structural steels, carbon steels, flat steel bars, hexagonal steel bars and square steel bars.

Meeting demand

General manager Nuri Ozdemirel told Industry Europe how the company’s product range has continued to allow it to enjoy a strong market position. He said, “We have maintained our excellent reputation by ensuring that we listen to our customers and deliver products in accordance with their demands. The steel industry is not static, and we are committed to staying ahead of the changing regulations and requirements in Turkey and other markets where we are active to guarantee that Cemtas Celik always has the steel products our customers require.”

In order to support this, the company is keen to highlight its list of industry certificates, including being ISO 9002 accredited since 1994, with regular upgrades, and holding the respected ISO/TS 16949:2002 as well as a number of Turkish and European standards.

Cemtas Celik delivers around half of its 150,000 tonnes annual production of steel and 200,000 thousand tonnes of rolling mill production to its domestic Turkish market, with the other half exported, primarily to Germany. The company sells material for forging purposes to customers in Spain, Portugal and Romania, with its spring products popular in Brazil and northern Europe.

The company’s financial results reflect its continued positive position in its active markets, with a 2010 turnover of €150million posted. Its 300 employees are all carefully trained and highly skilled in order to maintain and indeed exceed these strong results.

Power of the people

Mr Ozdemirel continued, “We take investment in people and investment in machinery very seriously as we know these are the two key areas that support our ambition for continued success. Our qualified manpower certainly helps to set us apart from the competition and we work hard to ensure that we listen to our employees and empower them to share their views with us so that the business benefits from their expertise wherever possible.”

The investment in machinery and equipment is clearly evident from the continual upgrading across the Bursa sites, particularly in relation to steel production for the

automotive sector. Most recently, Cemtas Celik has invested €4million in the very latest production equipment to enable it to sell directly to automotive customers as it now produces steel torsion bars. All cars, vehicles and trucks have at least one torsion bar, with the future-focused electric and hybrid car market also using torsion bars, so the company is well-placed to benefit from this growing demand.

Continual investment

Cemtas Celik has also invested a further €2.5million in a special Ladle Heating furnace and bought a German built Peeling Machine in 2010. Mr Ozdemirel added, “It has been a major focus for us to invest in training and equipment in order to use our high quality materials and add value to them by producing the end product rather than just selling the steel. We see this as an integral part of our successful future and we are enjoying excellent feedback from our new and existing customers. Until recently we were solely focused on producing and selling round bars and forgings, but now we’ve committed to taking those materials and adding value, such as actually manufacturing the stabilisers for automotive customers.”

The future for Cemtas Celik looks bright, particularly as the automotive industry is improving and it is well-positioned for the growing electric and hybrid car market. Mr Ozdemirel pointed out that although the automotive sector is ‘increasing and improving’, with an expected five per cent growth in the market each year, concerns over the potential rise in global petrol costs could make an impact. He concluded, “We have been careful to invest across our steel production facilities so that we are not reliant on any one sector, although we see the future auto industry as something we will be involved with heavily. Our skills and dedication to adding value to our steel production puts us in an excellent position, and the solid infrastructure in Turkey means that we are also in a strong geographical position to service our clients worldwide.” n

www.cemtas.com.tr