Turkuaz Seramik pursues growth through new investments

Founded by Abdurrahman Özkaya in Kayseri, central Turkey, in 1993, the family-run company Turkuaz Seramik is today the second largest Turkish sanitaryware manufacturer and one of the top 20 groups in the world.

The first tunnel kiln was built in 2004 when the company began exporting its products to the Balkan countries and the Middle East.

Continuing its growth strategy, in 2009 Turkuaz started up its second plant in the Incesu industrial zone, again near Kayseri, with a covered area of 100,000 square metres.

This was a major turning point for the company, enabling it to join the ranks of the leading players in the sector. Today the two plants have a combined production capacity of 3 million pieces/year of Vitreous China and Fine Fire Clay (FFC) products and an actual production of 2.5 million piece/year, including 750,000 in FFC.

Exports account for 45% of total sales with the European Union being the company’s main exports market.

Kürsad Özkaya, a member of the board of Turkuaz Seramik, describes the projects under way and the potential for further development in Turkey and in export markets.

"In 2016 we began introducing high-pressure casting technology and robotic glazing lines, which were supplied by B&T White, one of the leaders in this sector. The next step will be to extend robotic glazing to all the glazing lines and to reach a production of 1,500 high-pressure cast WCs per day", he says.

• Read the complete interview published on Ceramic World Review 124/2017