Turkish Tile Sector Benefits from Mideast Turmoil

Istanbul, Turkey, May 9, 2011 -- The Turkish ceramics and tiles sector is closer to being a regional leader than ever before, thanks to a 23% export surge over the previous year, according to the Daily News of Turkey.

Due to the series of uprisings that have been shaking the Middle East and North Africa, an Egyptian company that is the chief exporter in the region had to radically slash production, according to Bülent Şamlı, the sales and marketing group chairman of Seramiksan, the Turkish ceramics company.

“Consumers from North African countries are buying from our country, therefore we can say the turmoil affected our sector quite positively,” he said, adding that Turkey ranked sixth in the global ceramic tiles sector, following China, Brazil, Italy, Spain and India.

According to Şamlı, the main driving force behind the rapid growth of the sector both globally and domestically in the past few years, is the fact the use of ceramic tiles is no longer confined to bathrooms, but application areas have been remarkably diversified. “Ceramics have become an appealing interior design item,” he said.