Due to current monetary policies, imported products have become 20 percent cheaper than domestic products. Vega Makina General Manager Serdar Selim Zengin, who pointed out that this situation has put domestic producers, especially those working for export, in a difficult situation, said, “We have been having difficulty in bringing products from abroad due to the bureaucracy experienced in customs recently. Right at this time, we decided to support domestic producers who have developed their products and can produce in the quality and features we want. In this way, both our companies will be relieved and we will be able to overcome the stagnant period we are in more easily.”
Vega Makina General Manager Serdar Selim Zengin, who pointed out that the implemented monetary policy has made imported products 20 percent cheaper than domestic products, stated that many domestic producers working for export are going through a difficult process for this reason. Zengin, who explained that they made a decision to support domestic producers during this period, said, “Like many brands in our sector, we have been having difficulty in bringing products from abroad due to the bureaucracy experienced in customs recently. Right at this time, we decided to support domestic producers who have developed their products and can produce in the quality and features we want, and who are suitable for our company structure.
“In this way, our local companies will be more comfortable in terms of sales and financing, and they will focus on further developing their products by moving away from sales concerns, and we will get through this stagnant period more easily,” he said.
“We will close 2024 with a turnover of approximately 370 million euros”
Serdar Selim Zengin, who made evaluations regarding the welding machines and consumables sector, stated that the domestic market turnover of the sector in 2022 was around 370 million euros. Zengin, who drew attention to the fact that 25 percent of this figure was made up of welding machines and equipment and 75 percent of it was made up of consumables, said, “As a sector, we experienced a growth of approximately 10 percent in 2023 and our turnover increased to around 410 million euros. However, we predict that the figures for 2024 will decline to the figures for 2022 and the turnover for 2025 will be parallel to 2024. As explained in the OVP; tight monetary policies will continue in 2025. For this reason, we do not expect an expansion in domestic demand, public and private investments. Therefore, we estimate that the total domestic market turnover for 2025 will be around 370 million euros, which we predicted for 2024,” he said.
“Things may turn positive after June-July 2025”
Zengin, who stated that the first interest rate cut could be in June or July 2025, noted that things will develop positively in parallel with this. Zengin, who underlined that a growth below 5 percent in 2025 will not benefit any sector, not just the resource sector, said, “This will have a serious negative impact on unemployment rates and impoverishment. Therefore, we must achieve growth above this rate in the Turkish economy.”
The sector is experiencing its most difficult year
Noting that all of the products they sell are investment products used in the industry, Zengin emphasized that sales of consumables continue in some way even though production has decreased, but sales of welding machines,
which are investment materials, are negatively affected by the current conjuncture. Stating that current monetary policies have caused demand to shrink in the domestic market and investments to stop, Zengin said, “Considering the decreases in purchasing indexes (PMI), our growth chance as a sector is not possible in this period. Therefore, although we started the year with a positive perspective, we will not achieve real growth in 2024. We are experiencing our most difficult year as a sector.”
Even if the domestic producer offers a 20% discount, it remains above the prices of imported products
Indicating that local manufacturing companies working for export are also going through a difficult period under the current conditions, Zengin said, “Right now, we can buy the same product sold by one of our main suppliers, a domestic company that exports to every corner of the world, from Europe for 20% cheaper. This is a very sad thing. In this case, how can our manufacturers export to Europe, America and Asia? It is very difficult. Even if they give a 20 percent discount on their products in an environment where foreign exchange has not increased, general expenses have increased a lot in TL terms and profitability has decreased a lot, they remain more expensive than European companies,” he said.
Full support for domestic manufacturers
Explaining that they have postponed their planned investment decision under current conditions, Zengin said, “During this period, we have decided to support domestic manufacturers who care about R&D, think innovatively, have developed their products and can produce in the quality and features we want, and are suitable for our company structure. In this way, both our companies will be more comfortable in terms of sales and financing and thus they will focus on developing their products even more. At the same time, we will get through the stagnant period we are in more easily.” Zengin also said that their supplies from abroad will continue and in addition, in order to support domestic manufacturers, they will purchase some of the products they buy from China from domestic suppliers, especially until they overcome the current congestion.