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Packaging Industry in Turkey
PACKAGING INDUSTRY IN TURKEY
Packaging provides protection to products by ensuring safe delivery from the place of
manufacture to the point of sale or use.
The Turkish packaging industry is a well-developed sector. In recent years, innovations
and the environment friendly production in the sector have increased. In addition, new
packaging formats are improved according to the quality, size and appeal of products.
Growth in population and living standards, rapid urbanization, diversification of consumer
goods, increase in the number of women in labor force and increase in exports – mainly in
consumer products, have all resulted in higher demand for packaging products. The
Turkish packaging industry has grown rapidly over the past 10 years and has now become
a huge sector. The growth of the sector reflects changing shopping habits, particularly in
large cities, due to the presence of supermarkets, department stores and hypermarkets.
Increased advertisement of consumer products, attractive point-of-purchase packaging
and the boom in sales of canned and frozen food, apparel, and disposable medical
supplies, all of which require specialty packaging, and especially the increase in exports
are other factors for the expansion of the packaging sector.
Packaging consumption in Turkey has increased rapidly following the world trends. As the
retail market has expanded rapidly, the sales of packaged products to the final consumer
has increased. This development has resulted in intensive studies on packaging forms and
more rational packaging. In the last five years, the average growth rate of the Turkish
packaging industry has been 6% per year, and it is estimated to remain the same in the
coming years.
The annual consumption of packaging is about 5.5 million tons. The breakdown of
packaging products consumption in Turkey is 39% for paper, carton and corrugated board
packaging, 33% for plastic packaging, 13% for glass packaging, 8% for wood packaging
and 7% for metal packaging.
Turkey produces all types of packaging materials and products such as paper, cardboard,
wrapping film, tape, plastics, glass, metal and wood. The need to arrange the product for
packaging according to its physical and chemical properties has led to different ways of
utilizing the main materials by processing them with new technologies. In other words, the
flexibility of the materials has increased with regard to protection capabilities and shelf life.
There are about 3000 companies manufacturing various packaging materials in Turkey.
Most of the companies are medium and small sized companies, but there are also a few
large companies. Fifty three packaging manufacturers are among the largest 1000
companies in Turkey. The companies in the sector show very good performance in terms
of quality and production capacity. Companies in the packaging industry are mostly
located in Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Ankara, Konya, Kocaeli, Gaziantep, Adana, Kayseri and
Manisa. The packaging sector is well-organized under the Exporters’ Unions and sectoral
associations.
© Republic of Turkey – Ministry of Economy, 2012 3
The plastic packaging sector in Turkey has a total production of 1.8 million tons/year. Most
of the companies in the sector are small and medium sized. The Turkish PP woven bags
and sacks sector has an important production and export capacity, and ten large sized
companies producing big bags are organized under the Turkish Flexible Intermediate Bulk
Containers Association.
Paper, carton and corrugated board products have become one of the leading sectors of
the packaging industry and account for approximately 39% of the packaging industry’s
production. The paper, carton and corrugated board products sector in Turkey has a total
production of 2.1 million tons/year.
Metal packages made of aluminum, tin, and iron sheets are supplied to the market in
different forms. The steel packaging (vegetable oil, pickle, mineral oil, paint and other
chemicals drums and boxes, boxes for food, beverages, aerosol and beverage lids, glass
jar lids) and aluminum packaging (covers all kinds of food and non-food aluminum boxes)
production capacity has reached 600.000 tons. The annual production reached about
388.000 tons and accounts for approximately 7% of the packaging industry’s production.
Turkey has a well-developed glass industry. There is a group of companies, namely
“Türkiye Şişe ve Cam Fab. A.Ş.” in the glass industry which dominates the domestic
market. It accounts for approximately 95% of Turkey’s total annual production of glass and
ranks 12th amongst the top 25 firms in the world. The Group consists of 26 companies
which produce almost every kind of glass product, and Anadolu Cam which produces
glass packaging. Turkey has a glass production capacity of 2.2 million tons in total.
Approximately one third of this capacity, which is about 750.000 tons, is for glass
packaging products. Anadolu Cam Türkiye Şişe ve Cam Fab. A.Ş. exports glass
containers as well as packaging production technologies.
Wooden packaging consists mainly of products used for packaging agricultural products
such as fresh fruits and vegetables, standard and non-standard pallets used in warehouse
stacking and logistics, demountable transportation boxes and containers. Total capacity is
estimated to be 600.000 tons/year and the production of various wooden packaging
materials is about 440.000 tons/year. Sector products comply with recent ISPM15
Standards.
The Turkish packaging sector has also reached world standards in terms of quality. The
number of firms which have ISO 9000 Quality System Certificates, ISO 14001 Certificates
and ISO 22000 Certificates is rapidly increasing. In addition, Turkish packaging
manufacturers closely follow recent international and national developments in
environmental issues and comply with environmental legislation and regulations.
All types of packaging wastes, including those imported and/or produced in Turkey, are
controlled under the “Packaging and Packaging Waste Management Legislation”.
Additionally, there are legislative preparations for the control of food packaging production
and articles in direct contact with food materials. With these additional legislative
improvements, it is foreseen to reach a compliance with European Union regulations. The
R&D and new product development activities in the sector have gained more importance
in order to achieve competitiveness worldwide.
© Republic of Turkey – Ministry of Economy, 2012 4
EXPORTS
Exports of the Turkish packaging industry show increasing trend. While it was 50 million
USD in 1990, the value of packaging products exports reached almost 3.1 billion dollars in
2011. Additionally, a large quantity of packaging products is exported indirectly along with
the exported product itself. This remarkable high increase in export value has undoubtedly
been achieved due to recent modernization and technological improvements in the sector.
In 2011 the largest packaging group exported was plastic packaging products with a share
of 69% in total exports in the packaging industry. The total export value of these packaging
products reached 2,142 million USD in 2011. The main plastic packaging products
exported are flexible intermediate bulk containers (sacks and bags, a kind used for the
packaging of goods). Turkey is the world’s second largest exporter of FIBC (Flexible
Intermediate Bulk Containers) with an 18.3% share in 2009. The other plastic packaging
products exported are sheets and films made of propylene polymers, vinyl chloride
polymers and ethylene polymers, bags and sacks made of ethylene polymers, lids,
stoppers, caps and other closures, carboys, bottles, flasks, preforms and similar articles.
The next largest packaging group was paper packaging products with a share of 18% in
total exports of the packaging industry. The main export products are paper and board
cartons, mainly corrugated board products, boxes, cases, bags and other packing
containers. In 2011, the total export value of these packaging products reached 567 million
USD.
The other important packaging group was metal packaging with a share of 9% in the total
exports of the packaging industry. The main export products are aluminum casks, drums,
cans, boxes and similar containers (including rigid or collapsible tubular containers). In
2011, the total value of these metal packaging products reached 281 million USD.
Glass and wood packaging products are other important export products. These products
are carboys, bottles, flasks, jars, pots, phials, ampoules and other containers of glass and
pallets, boxes of wood.
Turkish packaging products are exported to a wide range of countries and Turkey is now
exporting various packaging products to 200 countries throughout the world. Packaging
products are mainly exported to the European Union countries, Eastern Europe, the
Middle East and the CIS countries. The major markets for packaging products are
Germany, the United Kingdom, Iraq, France, Iran, the Netherlands, Italy, Israel, Russian
Federation and Romania. In 2011, Germany and the United Kingdom had a 9% and 7%
share in Turkey’s packaging industry exports, respectively.
© Republic of Turkey – Ministry of Economy, 2012 5
TRADE FAIRS
Packaging Eurasia 2012- International Packaging, Packaging Processes, Packaging
Machinery and Materials Exhibition in Istanbul in September 20-23, 2012.
Strong NGO’s in the sector have been implementing a marketing project “Turkish Packology”
which at present covers the Russian Federation. You can reach information about the
Turkish Packology Project on its website (http://www.turkishpackology.com).
USEFUL LINKS
Packaging Manufacturers Association
www.ambalaj.org.tr
Corrugated Board Manufacturers Association
Label Manufacturers Association
Carton Board Packaging Manufacturers Association
Flexible Packaging Manufacturers Association
Packaging Machine Manufacturers Association
Association For Recyclable Packaging Materials Collectors And Separators
Rigid Plastic Packaging Manufacturers Association
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