Export in the sector slows down as the marble reserves are not sufficiently valorized
Marble sector of Turkey, with the pattern and sorts in the portfolio possessing the 33 percent of the global reserve, which is estimated to have 15 billion cubic meters, has focused on getting a better position in the medium term in global scale. However, the fact that the desired acceleration cannot be achieved despite the potential, almost constructs an invisible barrier before the marble sector of Turkey. The barrier in question consists of us not discovering the marble potential of Turkey and not being able to valorize the marble reserves sufficiently. In fact, the marble addressing not only to one type of geography due to its feature of keeping cool in summer and warm in winter, can be used in warm African and Arabic countries, as well as countries cold like Canada. Acting with the realization of that, countries like Spain and Italy have been buying the block marble for low costs from Turkey and sells it to global markets under their names.
Izmir Fair present an opportunity to grow in the global market
Marble, the International Izmir Natural Stone and technologies Fair, one of the biggest natural stone fairs in global scale and hosting over a thousand visitors, continues its growth every day. Meeting thousands of professionals globally in Izmir, which is a port city that is a meeting point of European, Asian and African continents, not only introduces the Turkish marble to the world but also provides an opportunity for the Turkish marble industrialists to see their deficiencies. Additionally, for its underground resources, Turkey ranks the 10th in terms of mine variety among the 132 countries prominent in global mining. Out of 90 types of mine that are globally traded, 77 of them have been identified to exist in Turkey and there is production in about 60 mine types. There are around a thousand 500 natural quarries, around 2 thousand facilities active in scale of factories, 9 thousand medium and small scaled workshops operating in the sector. The sector with an employment level of 350 thousand, 65 percent of the general production is represented in Balıkesir, Afyon, Bilecik, Denizli and Muğla, where the production is the highest. At this point, all sector fairs, primarily the İzmir fair represents an important opportunity for Turkey to prove its production potential in global scale.
Export of natural stone increased by 13.43% in 2017
While the branding globally and fair promotion studies continue in the sector, the growth process continues in parallel. According to the Mine Evaluation Report 2017, prepared by us, Turkish Marble Mine Foundation, our natural stone export in 2017 increased by 13.43 percent in comparison to 2016 and was 7.9 million tons corresponding to 2 billion 48 million dollars. The leading exportation of natural stone was to Peoples’ Republic of China with 945 million dollars. China was followed by USA with 294 million dollars, Saudi Arabia with 104 million dollars, India with 84 million dollars and Iraq with 63 million dollars. On the other hand, exporting 5.66-million-ton marble-travertine in 2017, our sector gained 1.1 billion dollars of export income in this field. Therefore, in our total mine exportation in 2017i the most exported product was marble-travertine and processed marble was the second with 1.56 million tons and 684 million dollars.
China is our primary trade partner in Fareast
China, the biggest trade partner of Turkey with its share around 60 percent, mostly buys the marble in Turkey as raw. China ranking the first globally in natural stone production and Turkey ranking the third are the most important two actors in the exportation of marble products. In fact, China is leader in raw marble importation, and Turkey in exportation thereof. On the other hand, Chinese mine exportation that was 1.38 billion dollars in 2016, increased to 1.70 billion dollars with an increase of 23 percent in 2017. Natural stone product group is 55.56 percent of our mine exportation to China and 44.41 percent thereof is minerals.
Furthermore, removal of the quota on the block marble of India in 2017 and the increase of our exportation to that region are positive developments, however, our priority is to break the perception that “Italian marbles are the most valuable and prestigious products in Indian market”. We can be the biggest natural stone supplier in India, if we can overcome that with our quality and correct price policy.
Political uncertainties have created narrowing in the Middle east market
The challenge on the economies of many Middle eastern and North African countries created by the low oil prices for the last two years, cut on the share spared for the construction projects in the Gulf countries and political uncertainties in the Middle east have created narrowing in Middle east, which is one of our most important processed marble markets. Despite all the negativities, our mine exportation increased by 23.8 percent compared to the previous year. Especially the increase by 25.74 percent in the exportation to the Fareast is important to be underlined. From this aspect, I believe that any opportunity in Fareast for the promotion of our sector should be used.
On the other hand, we have a positive scenario forecast for the marble exportation this year. We expect the marble export to increase significantly in comparison to 2017. We observe an increase in the marble exportation to USA, despite all the negative atmosphere. Besides, the marble fair in India in February was quite fruitful for the Turkish companies. There was also a positive atmosphere in the marble fair organized in March in China. There was a significant interest to the Turkish companies in both fairs.