This stone will be mentioned in the world literature
Erol Berberoğlu, board chairman at Medmar, is very assertive about their new stone, Blue Ice Grey
Medmar is one of the prestigious players in the natural stone sector. It’s a giant that exports all over the world, contributing to Turkey’s economy. Erol Berberoğlu, who manages and directs this giant as the board chairman, undertakes two important tasks together. He is both the chairman of Medmar and the vice president of the Aegean Marble Exporters’ Association. (EMİB) So we asked Berberoğlu about Medmar, as well as the sector’s general situation. Let’s start with Medmar and mention Blue Ice Grey, which is supplied from the company’s quarry in Konya and is one of the most attention-grabbing stones of the last season.
Pointing at their 20-year experience in the sector, Erol Berberoğlu took a deep breath and started explaining: “Throughout these 20 years, I’ve been able to benefit from my dad Mr. Yetkin’s experience and vision. We made many quarry investments. Some of them succeeded, some of them didn’t. However, I should confess that no other quarry has ever excited me as much as the Yunak quarry has. Blue Ice Grey is a warm grey shade originating from white. The productivity of the quarry is very good. The blocks we extract are good-size. And the fact that our stone requires no epoxy is a huge appeal for our customers. As of today, we’ve managed to export to 42 countries in a relatively short time. Despite the pandemic, 90% of these customers placed new orders. Our stone receives positive feedback. The grey shade is beautiful and has a blue tinge to it. I believe that Blue Ice Grey will be mentioned in
the world literature.”
Now let’s get to Medmar’s route. We asked Mr. Erol if they had new investments on their agenda and found out that the company stands ready for new strong steps in the sector despite the pandemic. They’ve already made preparations to meet the demand for grey and white stones. Berberoğlu said, “We’re considering new investments. The main factor that we consider while making investments is the demand we receive from our customers. The demand in the sector is clear and therefore, we are planning to go with grey in Karaman and white in Konya.”
And then we got to the Turkish natural stone industry’s performance during the pandemic. Aka. the 2020 figures. For Mr. Erol, the fact that Turkey concluded the year 2020 with a total earning of $1,736 billion (with a decrease of 6.8%), is very good news. He said, “Just like in all the sectors, the pandemic impacted the natural stone sector too. This decrease of 6% is not a negative figure when compared to the overall situation of the global economy. Our sector showed great performance in spite of the pandemic. This success belongs to all companies, nongovernmental organizations, managers, and apprentices of the sector. Of course, during this period, our statesmen and bureaucrats contributed greatly with the precautions they took and the support they provided. The fact that block stocks are increasing due to oversupply gives the impression that things are not going well. We have to analyze the supply and demand equilibrium well. I think we should aim at increasing our added-value by slowly increasing the prices just like Italians who are way more experienced than us in
this sector.”
Finally, we asked Medmar Board Chairman Erol Berberoğlu about his expectations from 2021. We asked whether the natural stone sector could go back to the fairs and Berberoğlu answered, “God willing,” and concluded: “I am one of those people who believe that the technology cannot replace face-to-face communication. It’s saddening that we cannot come together with friends and customers without any fairs. I hope that the pandemic falls behind very fast and we get back to our cheerful fairs on five continents. Particularly in Izmir. However, we should mention a very precious project realized in the sector. As you know, exporter associations now grant scholarships out of their incomes to encourage successful students to get to the mine engineering field. I think their money is well spent. Our Ministry, EMİB President Mevlüt Kaya, and all the presidents and members of associations have realized a great project for the sector’s future.”