Turkish contractors rank second in world for foreign projects for 10th straight year

ISTANBUL

Turkey ranked in second place after China for the number of contracting companies building the largest volume of projects across the world outside their home countries for the 10th year in a row, according to the latest list of the world’s “top 250 contractors” by the magazine Engineering News Record (ENR).

The number of Turkish companies on the list, published on Aug. 18, rose from 40 in the previous list, which covered 2015, to 46, Reuters reported. 

China topped the list with 65 companies and the U.S. ranked third with 43 companies. 

Rönesans ranked 38th in the list, becoming Turkey’s top international contractor and climbing up from 44th place in the previous ENR list. The company also ranked the 10th largest construction company in Europe, posting over $3.2 billion revenue abroad in total, according to a press release from the company. In 2013, Rönesans acquired Swiss-based Alpine Bau GmbH, Hergiswil, and recently completed the final acquisition of Ballast Nedam in the Netherlands.

Rönesans was followed by Polimeks and Enka, which ranked 42nd and 72nd respectively. 

There were 10 Turkish companies in the top 100. 

TAV Construction ranked 76th, Yapı Merkezi ranked 78th and Alarko Contracting Group ranked 79th in the list. 

Limak Construction, which recently won a number of large tenders abroad, especially in Middle Eastern markets, climbed from 135th place to 85th place this year. 

Turkey’s Ant Construction ranked 86th, GAP ranked 92th and Universal Acarsan ranked 98th in the latest list. 

Turkish construction companies gained $25.6 billion from their international projects in 2016, by taking a 5.5 percent share in the global market, according to the ENR list. 

Meanwhile, the ENR stated that the global construction market contacted by 6.4 percent to $468 billion in 2016 compared to the previous year. 

While Turkish contractors’ share slightly regressed in Europe, their revenues in other markets rose. 

Turkish Contactors Association (TMB) head Mithat Yenigün praised the rise in Turkish contractors’ international performance despite negative global conditions. 

“In 2016, we saw a significant rise in global economic uncertainties and geopolitical risks. The energy-exporting countries, which are Turkey’s main markets, also pushed down their investments due to the oil slump. Despite all these problems, our companies achieved a big success abroad,” Yenigün said in a statement.