Textile factories are moving abroad

Companies in textile, which rose to leadership in the sectors where concordat was declared the most, changed their route abroad. Nilüfer Çevikel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Demirtaş Organized Industrial Zone Industrialists and Businessmen Association (DOSABSİAD), stated that they have repeatedly stated that there is already a lot of competition in the textile industry, especially on the clothing side, as the limited number of large buyers in the world generally prefer countries such as the Far East and Egypt. “For this reason, clothing manufacturers have recently chosen to move their factories abroad in order to reduce costs. This situation caused cheaper products to enter Turkey. “Thus, products started to be sold in Turkey below our costs, and since we could not compete with the costs, we had tried to make our voice heard to the world before, and as a result of this, concordats have started in the textile industry and companies investing abroad are continuing rapidly,” he said.

“We have to produce branded products”

Despite the news that orders from abroad have stopped in the textile industry, Çevikel said, “Actually, orders are not coming to Turkey and the Turks. Although the order continues at the same pace, unfortunately, since we cannot keep costs down and cannot compete with other countries in the world, especially with countries such as Egypt, Turkmenistan or the Far East, people are not paying their leases, they are not paying their debts, and this causes concordats. With the introduction of carbon footprint, we do not think that countries in the Far East can easily adapt to it. That’s why we’ve been saying for a long time that Turkey should become a brand and sell brands because, unfortunately, the Turkish clothing industry is limited to a very limited number in the world, which can barely exceed the fingers of one hand. “There are big buyers in the world and unfortunately the Turkish clothing industry is doomed to experience this as long as it produces unbranded products for these big buyers,” he said.

 “Companies that don’t put products on the shelves are doomed to disappear”

Stating that it is not right for a developed country to still be the product supplier of certain companies, DOSABSİAD Chairman Nilüfer Çevikel said, “This era is now over. This is actually a natural process. With more innovative, technological and different products, Turkish textile will take its place in the world market in a different position after these dark days. Moves must be made for urgent branding. Because Türkiye has now reached a certain stage in the industrial revolution. It is no longer a country with cheap energy costs, cheap land and cheap labor. Companies that cannot brand and put products on the shelves are doomed to disappear. “Concordats will continue,” he said.

Textile was the sector that declared concordat the most

Textile and ready-made clothing rose to the first place in the list of sectors that declared concordat the most in March. Textile ranks 2nd in the list of sectors with the “highest concordat risk” with 195 companies. Industry representatives point to the last quarter of the year for the return from the bottom. Employment losses and closures that started last year in textile and ready-made clothing, one of the locomotive sectors of Turkish industry and exports, have reached their peak. In the first quarter of this year, nearly 10 percent of the total concordats were realized only in the textile sector. When other categories such as clothing, carpet and yarn were added to this figure, the rate increased to 15 percent. On the other hand, according to the data, textile, which ranked second among the sectors with the most concordat declared last year, ranked first this year.