FABRIC INDUSTRY IN TURKEY

Having the largest share in Turkish industrial production, the textile industry is one of the

first established industries in Turkey. The sector comprises 20 thousand manufacturing

companies and employs about 400 thousand employees. The fabric industry as a subsector

of the huge Turkish textile industry has improved significantly in recent years, since

the Turkish clothing and home textile industries have had a significant role in the world’s

clothing and home textile markets in the last two decades.

The Turkish fabric finishing sector has a level of processing all the capacity of grey fabric.

This sector is equivalent to the European Union in terms of processing capacity, modern

technology, qualified workforce, and especially product quality.

Today, the Turkish fabric industry has competitive advantages in international markets,

particularly in terms of its technology, extensive product range and the quality, design and

creativity of its products. In addition to its well-developed structure, it employs a highly

skilled labor force. Also, the Turkish fabric industry has great flexibility and ability to

modernize its production, and adapt itself to new technologies. This ability allows the

industry to reduce its reaction time to changes in consumer demand in international

markets. Thus, the Turkish fabric industry satisfies its customers by meeting all their needs

with the quality of its products together with its strong service ability of quick response and

on-time delivery. All these features have enabled Turkish fabric manufacturers and

exporters to earn a good reputation in international markets.

PRODUCTION

The Turkish fabric industry, which produces almost all kinds of fabrics for apparel, home

textiles, upholstery and technical applications, has a well-developed structure, especially in

production based on cotton, wool and man-made raw materials.

A large amount of fabric production is based on cotton. The fabric industry based on cotton

consists of two segments. One is composed of large scale companies which have

production facilities integrated vertically in all stages of fabric production, from fiber

processing, spinning and weaving to dying, printing and finishing. Many of them also have

manufacturing facilities for ready-made goods such as clothing or home textiles. The other

one is composed mainly of non-integrated companies on a small scale. These companies

cooperate with the Turkish finishing industry, which is one of the vital sub-sectors of the

Turkish textile industry.

The sector meets its raw material needs mostly from domestic sources. As an important

world cotton grower, Turkey ranked sixth in the world production of cotton with around 954

thousand tons in 2010/11 term. Although Turkey is among main cotton growers in the

world, domestic cotton does not meet the production demand of the country. Therefore,

Turkey is the third largest cotton importer after China and Bangladesh.

As well as the cotton textile industry, the Turkish man-made textile sector is also a welldeveloped

industry. Having the eighth largest capacity of synthetics in the world, Turkey

has a large production potential for synthetic fabrics based especially on 100% polyester

and polyester blends with cotton, viscose, nylon, polyamide, wool, linen and/or multiblends

of them. 62% of the companies in this sector have finishing plants and 75% of their

raw material needs are met by domestic production.

Being the third largest mohair producer in the world, Turkey also has a strong wool

industry. The majority of wool products meet the demand of clothing producers and

exporters.

The fabric mills are mainly concentrated in Istanbul, Bursa, Adana, Denizli,

Kahramanmaras, Izmir, Gaziantep, Tekirdag, Kayseri and Usak. Many of the integrated

mills are located in Istanbul, Bursa, Kahramanmaras, Adana and Gaziantep.

Today, Turkish fabric manufacturers are aware of the increasing trend in international

markets for healthier and more environment-friendly products, and have adapted

themselves to these developments. Many Turkish fabric manufacturers have ecological

labels for their products. Many of them have best known eco-labels like Oeko-Tex

Standard 100, Organic Exchange, GOTS, etc.

Turkish fabric manufacturers are aware of the importance of quality, and many have

national and international quality certificates.

EXPORTS

The total value of fabrics exported in 2011 was about US$ 4.6 billion. The main products

exported in 2011 were knitted fabrics, woven synthetic fabrics, and woven cotton fabrics.

The export values of knitted fabrics, woven synthetic fabrics, and woven cotton fabrics

were about US$ 1.5 billion, US$ 1.3 billion and US$ 1.2 billion respectively.

USEFUL LINKS

􀂃 Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Associations
www.itkib.org.tr

􀂃 Aegean Exporters’ Associations
www.egebirlik.org.tr

􀂃 Uludağ Exporters’ Association
www.uib.org.tr

􀂃 Denizli Exporters’ Association
www.denib.gov.tr

􀂃 Mediterranean Exporter Associations
www.akib.org.tr

􀂃 Southeast Anatolia Exporters’ Associations
www.gaib.org.tr

􀂃 Osmanbey Textile Manufacturers Association
www.otiad.org.tr

􀂃 Laleli Industrialists and Businessmen Association
www.lasiad.org.tr

􀂃 Merter Industrialists and Businessmen Association
www.mesiad.org.tr

􀂃 Turkish Home Textile Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association
www.tetsiad.org

􀂃 Turkish Textile Employers’ Association
www.tekstilisveren.org

􀂃 The Associations of Denim Industrialist’s and Businessmen’s of Turkey
www.denimder.org.tr/eng/

TAGS: Turkish fabrics sector , buy fabrics from Turkey , import fabrics from Turkey