Firat Plastik Kaucuk Sanayi ve Ticaret, which accounts for the lion’s share of Turkey’s high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe exports, has witnessed remarkable growth over the past year and is looking to boost its presence in the region when it makes its debut at the Big 5 show.

At the show, the Turkish major will be launching its FCS pipe, a new polyethylene (PE) pipe reinforced with glassfibre, which is thinner and lighter than high-density polyethylene (HDPE), but more durable, especially in the larger diameters, according to the company.
Firat Plastik, which produces more than 4,500 products, will also have on display at the show its wide range of HDPE, polypropylene random copolymer (PPRC) and Pex Al Pex pipes and fittings.
“The Big 5 show offers a big opportunity to promote our products in the GCC countries as well as the southeast market,” says Tunc Pekmen, chief of the firm’s infrastructure export department. “There is a huge and growing construction market in the GCC.  We are already supplying this market with large quantities of our products and are keen to get in touch with clients and gain further projects.”
In recent times, the company has been growing rapidly, according to Pekmen. “Besides having developed the new FCS pipe for infrastructure purposes, we have opened two additional factories recently and have started selling to additional countries in Europe. We also plan to further expand our pipeline facility.
“Not surprisingly, our sales have doubled this year in comparison to the previous year, having supplied a whopping 80 per cent of the total HDPE infrastructure pipes that were exported from Turkey, according to Turkish government studies. We are confident that our participation at the Big 5 show will help us increase our already significant presence in this region too,” he comments.
Established in 1972, the company has a 600,000 sq m facility in Istanbul and dominates 85 per cent of Turkey’s domestic market. Its main products include HDPE pressure pipes and related fittings, which are used for carrying clean and drinking water. These pipes are offered in a wide range of diameters starting from 20 mm and up to 1,600 mm, for different nominal pressure (PN) values ranging from 4 to 32 bars. Its other main products are triplex and FKS pipes, which are used for sanitary and sewage works, ranging from 100 mm to 2,400 mm in diameter.
Firat Plastik’s other products include PPRC installation pipes and fittings, PVC deep well pipes, PVC hose groups, LPG pipes, PVC water and sewage pipes and fittings, drip irrigation pipes, drainage pipes, double-wall cable protection pipes and PEX crosslink pipes (oxygen and non-oxygen barriered).
Besides pipes, the company also manufacturers PVC door and window systems, gaskets, reinforced steel, metal fixings such as hinges and window connection elements and PVC injection parts, and PVC roof gutters.
Some of the projects which the company has supplied to in the Middle East are: the Masik Project in Iraq, executed by the Harun Group, wherein products worth $500,000 were supplied; the Suleymania Project also in Iraq, an ongoing project being executed by the Harun Group (worth $150,000 so far); King Abdallah University, Saudi Arabia, newly completed under Nesma ($2 million); and the Dern and Souza desalination project under Enka (3.5 million), Wadi Mejenian under MSEC ($550,000), Zuara water network, under Sidem ($2.1 million),  and Ghariyan sewage network, under Apollo ($300,000), all in Libya.
The company will be present at stand 7D310 at the Big 5 show.