The Turkish Ceramics Promotion Committee is currently on a mission to invest and further consolidate its position in the Middle East, where the large number of fast-track mega projects under construction in the region is fuelling a surge in demand for tiles and sanitary ware products that its member companies are well known for.

Turkey, with its rich reserves of raw material, long ceramic history and high production capacity, is well poised to meet this demand in the Gulf countries, given its manufacturing capacity of 310 million sq m in the tiles sector and 20 million pieces in sanitary ware sector, says a spokesman for the committee.
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As a leading ceramics manufacturing country, Turkey has the crucial advantage of being in close proximity to other Gulf countries, which facilitates the establishment of easy trade, distribution and shipping networks.
Turkish ceramics manufacturers have also managed to change the perceptions in the market about the quality of their products, by not only becoming competitive in terms of price but also by collaboratively focusing on creating brand awareness of their products.
“Our branding awareness programme is not restricted to just quality, but also on highlighting the design elements of our ceramic products, as well as their environment-friendliness and user-friendliness,” says Bahadir Kayan, president of Turkish Ceramics Promotion Committee and general manager of Istanbul-based Kale Group Export, as a representative of the whole Turkish ceramic sector.
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“As part of our aggressive promotional and marketing strategy, we have partnered with Markam, a local brand management consulting firm as well as DDB Istanbul advertising agency who have helped us create a new catalogue of our products, re-launch our website, generate advertisements with a new concept as well as launch an effective public relations programme for our markets,” he adds.
“Rather than sell just individual products, we are trying to create a strong collaborative brand image of our local ceramic products. There are still a number of countries around the globe where people are not even aware of the variety of ceramic products available for residential and commercial use. We want to popularise our range of durable and aesthetic ceramic tiles and hygienic sanitary ware among people who have never used ceramic products before, to make them realise their superiority over other products.”
As part of its global marketing campaign, Turkish Ceramics products were also exhibited at the Big 5 show in Dubai last year. A further promotional effort will be launched at the Unicera International Ceramics and Bathrooms Fair in Istanbul, Turkey, in April (5 to 13).
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Although ceramic production started in Turkey about 8,000 years ago, the country’s ceramic industry only came into its own from the second half of the 20th century. This began with both the government and private sectors encouraging investments in the sector, thereby giving it the much-needed boost. Based on their end-products, Turkey’s ceramic sector can be divided into four main segments – ceramic tiles, ceramic sanitary ware, refractory and raw materials – all of which provide significant inputs for the construction industry.
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Over the years, the country has also grown to become the eighth largest market in the world for ceramic tiles, with 99 per cent of annual domestic demand – around 110 million sq m – being satisfied by domestic production. A buoyant market and the growing demand for Turkish ceramics have seen the development and establishment of some of the largest manufacturers in the world that include the Kale Toprak, Ege and Eczacibasi groups.