Turkish contractors remain second in world for foreign projects despite hurdles

ISTANBUL

Turkey remained in second place after China for the number of contracting companies building the largest volume of projects across the world outside their home, according to the latest list of the world’s “top 250 international contractors” by the magazine Engineering News Record (ENR).

A total of 46 Turkish companies took place in the list, which covered 2017, as it was the case in the previous year.

China topped the list again and the United States ranked third with 36 companies, according to a press statement by the Turkish Contractors Association (TMB).

Rönesans (Renaissance) Construction ranked 36th in the list, becoming Turkey’s top international contractor and climbing up from 38th place in the previous ENR list.

In 2017, the company, which focuses on Russia and Europe, generated a revenue of $4.2 billion with a turnover of $3.64 billion from its international projects, according to a press release from the company.

Rönesans was followed by Limak, which climbed to 68 in the latest list from 85 in the previous list. TAV became the third top Turkish contractor in terms of international projects and ranked 70th in the ENR list.

There were eight Turkish companies in the top 100, according to the statement from TMB.

GAP ranked 73rd, Enka ranked 79th, Yapı Merkezi ranked 82nd, Ant Yapı ranked 86th and Tekfen ranked 98th on the list.

Turkish construction companies took a 4.8 percent share in the global market, while their share was 5.5 percent in the previous year, according to TMB statement.

The whole market reached a $482 billion value in 2017 with a 3.1 percent yearly growth.

While the Turkish contractors realized nearly $30 billion worth of international projects on an annual basis between 2012 and 2015, this volume regressed to $15 billion in the 2016-2017 periods amid geopolitical hurdles, oil slump and a diplomatic row with Russia, TMB President Mithat Yenigün said.

He noted that Turkish companies would likely benefit from a series of positive development in the upcoming period, including the normalization in Turkey’s bilateral ties with Russia and a significant increase in demand from new potential markets, such as Sub-Saharan Africa.

“Our companies can exceed $20 billion in attaining new foreign projects this year,” Yenigün said.

Meanwhile, changes in currency exchange rates are causing concern, according to the ENR release.

“Inflation in countries such as Venezuela, Argentina, Iran and Turkey are adding to currency worries,” it added.

For many major global contractors, competition from state-owned or supported contractors, mainly from China, is putting pressure on margins, according to the ENR release.