Turkey’s Borusan plans $400 million investment

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Borusan Port, located at the Gemlik Bay in Bursa, is a major heatland for firm’s trade as well as Turkey’s. Company photo

Turkey’s Borusan Holding, which earned $4 billion in turnover in 2012, plans to increase its investments to $400 million this year, mainly in steel pipe and energy fields.

Borusan Holding, which owns companies in the steel, energy, information technology and logistics sectors, hit its investment record with $352 million last year, but it aims to rise to $400 million this year, the company said in a statement yesterday. While Borusan endorsed $4 billion last year, it posted an operational profit worth $286 million. It expects an 8 percent hike in turnover this year, it added.

Borusan is set to focus on growth via innovations in the near future. “We are working on a project for developing 20 new products-services and business models. We have established a product development and innovation team with 50 people,” said CEO Agah Uğur. He also noted that Borusan had spared a $10 million budget for only these works, not including projects.

Logistics and energy

In then statement, Borusan also claimed that its acquisition of Balnak Logistics last year carried it to the top in the sector. Borusan Logistics established an ETA (Electronic Transportation Network) within the framework of an innovation project worth $5 million last year. The ETA is the first company to provide an online transportation service for both transporters and possessors. “As transporters subscribed on the system can reach business opportunities via mobile channels, good owners can obtain an insured transport service at market price, which can be always monitored, without paying any additional charges,” Borusan said. Meanwhile, in the energy sector, Borusan Mannesmann has become the first Turkish steel maker to invest in the United States, Borusan said. “Borusan Mannesmann has designed innovative and durable products and technologies for shale gas drilling that captured the attention of the energy sector,” it said, adding that the company would make a $150 million investment in order to take its place in international markets.

Borusan, which has particularly been developing renewable energy resources, also increased its cumulative investments in the energy sector, surpassing $410 million by the end of last year. Its installed energy power reached 110 megawatts in 2011, with the start of operations at the Aksu Hydroelectric Power Plant in the eastern province of Erzurum.