Turkish contractors rank second in world for ninth straight year

Turkey came just after China, which topped the list with 65 companies. The United States followed Turkey with 39 companies on the list, which ranks the 250 largest world construction contractors, both publicly- and privately-held, based on general construction contracting export revenue generated from projects outside each firm’s respective home country.

Turkey’s Polimeks was the top Turkish company ranking 40th in the list, followed by Rönesans, which ranked 44th, and Enka, which ranked 79th. TAV, Ant Yapı Industry, Yapı Merkezi, NATA, Çalık, Tekfen and Yüksel followed the top three. 

Rönesans, which became a top 10 construction company of Europe, also became the top Turkish company in the ENR’s Top Global Contractors’ List, which ranks the 250 largest world construction contractors, both publicly- and privately-held, based on total construction contracting revenue regardless of where the projects were located. The company ranked 92nd on this list, followed by Polimeks at 94th and Enka in 151st place. 

The ENR Top 250 International Contractors had $501.1 billion in contracting revenue in 2015 from projects outside their home countries. The Top 250, as a group, also had $897.33 billion in revenue from domestic projects in 2015, down 1.3 percent from $909.26 billion in 2014, according to data from the ENR website. 

While the market size of the 250 companies on the list decreased by 4.1 percent in 2015 from the previous year, Turkish contractors managed to increase their market share to 4.6 percent in 2016, according to figures from 2015, said the Turkish Contractors’ Association (TMB) in a press release. 

“It is a great honor for us to mark the ENR list, which is the leading reference point in our sector, with 40 companies, 35 of which are TMB members, and to rank in second place in the world after China for nine years in a row,” said TMB President Mithat Yenigün. 

“Despite a number of negative developments in our largest markets and all uncertainties in the global conjuncture, our companies also achieved increasing their share of global revenue,” he added. 


Supports to be ‘crucial’ in future projects

He also noted that the creation of new financial instruments in Turkey as well as the increasing support by international financial organizations would play a great role in the future projects of Turkish companies. 
On a regional basis, North Africa was the biggest gainer at 6.7 percent, as its markets continue to recover after several years of political strife, said the ENR in a follow-up article. 

Latin America was also a major gainer, rising 5.1 percent in 2015 over 2014, as was the U.S. market, which grew 4.4 percent in 2015.

On the other hand, the international contracting market in Canada took the biggest hit, falling 22.4 percent, reflecting the downturn in its oil sands market. Central and southern Africa also fell dramatically, down 17 percent in 2015, said the ENR. 

Asia, the largest global market, also saw a double-digit decline, dropping 12.1 percent in 2015. Further, Europe and the Middle East saw market slowdowns, falling 6.4 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively.