Turkey becomes Europe’s biggest fiberboard producer

Seha Şahin – ANTALYA

Turkey has become the biggest producer of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) in Europe, as the country has enjoyed a sharp rise in less than two decades in terms of export markets.

“The amount of fiberboard produced in the world was 60 million cubic meters in 2009. There has been a 69 percent growth in the past six years,” Advanced Technology in Wood Industry (AGT) Sales and Marketing Group Head Şirzat Subaşı told a press conference in the Mediterranean province of Antalya last week. “Turkey has recorded growth of 82 percent in parallel to the growth rate in fiberboard production all over the world.”

Subaşı underscored the vitality of the continuous improvement of both top-line and middle-line management in the wood material production industry as well as that of operations that directly have an impact on end-user experience in the growth of the fiberboard industry in Turkey, citing periodical training programs conducted by consulting companies in which the AGT participates.

“We’re making regional optimization using dealer stores as our primary business partners when delivering our products to consumers,” Subaşı said when asked how the AGT made a difference in wood material production as a company with a 15 percent share in the Turkish fiberboard market. 

The AGT is a wood material production and exporting company founded in Antalya in 1984 by Turkish businessman Ahmet Söylemez.

“Specifying and analyzing target markets to develop corporate roadmaps would be a giant step toward the AGT’s mid-term and longstanding success,” Orçun Kuyucuoğlu, the consulting services manager at Ernst & Young Turkey, said in early January regarding a state-funded branding program called “Turquality” they provide to the AGT.

The company is planning to expand its export market currently consisting of around 60 countries, including the United States and several European countries.

Noting that the training of technical staff who make laminated flooring is crucial in creating a true concept of quality for end users of wood products, Subaşı said companies operating in the wood material production sectors should put more weight on the concept of quality rather than day-to-day steps based on price sensitivity.

Subaşı highlighted that the use of trees by companies that produce wood materials should be balanced by a sustainable supply method, saying Turkey currently imported raw wood materials from Russia, Ukraine, Cameroon, Bulgaria and Romania to produce wood products that are used in furnishing and interior decoration.

“Twenty-seven percent of Turkey is forest,” he said, adding that 50 percent of the forest had the potential to be productive.