Şişecam meets 3 pct of int’l glass demand

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Şişecam holds a ceremony for its new investments at its Yenişehir facility. AA photo

Şişecam’s 2011 profits grew by 53 percent as the company continued to expand abroad, according to Ersin Özince, chairman of the Turkey-based glass maker. The company fulfills some three percent of the global glass demand with its production, which has reached $3.7 billion.

“In 2011 our net profits increased 53 percent to 741 million Turkish Liras. Our 2011 sales figures registered an 18 percent increase from the year before, reaching 5 billion liras and our international sales rose 23 percent to 2.4 billion liras,” said Özince.

According to Özince, Şişecam’s strategic investments in 2011 witnessed an 830 million lira turnover. The company’s exports increased 10 percent this year, reaching $880 million.

Şişecam’s facility in Yenişehir in northwestern Turkey increased its production capacity from 120,000 to 1 million tons over the last five years, which provided an important stimulus to the region’s economy, said Özince.

In the beginning of 2013 the company will invest in a new glass packaging facility in Eskişehir followed by another new facility within Ankara Province in Polatlı in the middle of 2013, according to Şişecam’s Executive Board Vice President Professor Dr. Ahmet Kırman in a company press release.

Since 2006 Şişecam has invested $750 million in its Yenişehir facility, which consists of 9 factories and has a production capacity of 1 million tons. Kırman said that this was the world’s largest “glass complex” in one specific location.

The company currently has 170 production facilities in eight countries and exports their products to 150 different countries. Şişecam Group employs 18,000 employees and five of its companies are traded on the Istanbul Stock Exchange.