Vega Makina General Manager Serdar Selim Zengin stated that the welding machines sector, which grew by 4.5 percent last year and reached a turnover of 100 million euros, will remain stable in 2024. “Since welding machines are mostly considered as investment instruments, the growth of the sector varies entirely depending on investments. Serdar Selim Zengin, emphasizing that the stagnant trend can be reversed thanks to both public and private sector mega investments such as the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, said: “As Vega Makina, we have a 20 percent market share in the sector regarding the products we sell. We aim to increase this to 40 percent in the next three years. “For this purpose, we are in the process of supplying some materials and equipment required for production in our new facility that we will establish in Sivas with an investment target of 100 million TL,” he said.
Exports of 120 million euros
Welding machines, equipment and welding consumables used in many branches of the industry exceeded expectations in 2023 on a sectoral basis, reaching 120 million Euros in exports. While 85 percent of this was consumables, welding machinery and equipment also reached a turnover of 100 million Euros. Serdar Selim Zengin made an evaluation about the years 2023 and 2024 of the welding machines sector, which grows at least twice the Turkish average every year.
The sector plans to maintain the level it achieved in 2023
Pointing out that the first quarter of the year started with a rather stagnant course, especially in terms of welding machines and equipment, as in the last quarter of 2023, Serdar Selim Zengin said, “Since welding machines are mostly considered as investment instruments, the growth of the sector varies entirely depending on investments. As a matter of fact, last year, high inflation and interest rates, as well as problems in accessing finance, caused both public and private sector investments to be extremely limited. As a matter of fact, a slowdown even in mega projects such as the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant will negatively affect the growth performance of the sector. We predict that the current trend will continue in the same way for the rest of the year. In addition, tight monetary policies implemented in the context of combating high inflation caused a serious contraction in demand in the domestic market. “We see 2024 as a year that will be very active for the sector and not inclined to growth, and that we will spend it in an effort to maintain the levels we achieved in 2023,” he said.