Gulf Construction Online - Unicera goes global and professional

Events

One of the 12 halls occupied by Unicera.

Unicera goes global and professional

01 April 2011

SOME of Turkey’s best ceramic products were showcased at highly imaginative stands alongside sustainable products, innovative concepts, new trends in the sector and latest production technologies at the 23rd Unicera International Ceramic Bathroom Kitchen Fair in Turkey last month (March 2 to 6).

The fair, Europe’s third largest in the ceramic bathrooms and kitchens sector, was organised by Tuyap Fair and Exhibition Organisation in cooperation with the Turkish Ceramic Federation and Sanitary Ware and Construction Materials Producers Association (Timder) at the Tuyap Fair, Convention and Congress Centre in Istanbul.

This year, Unicera registered a total of 60,841 visitors from 71 countries – 3,530 of them arriving from Europe, Middle East and Africa. Compared to last year, the event saw a 14 per cent increase in number of exhibitors, attracting 226 firms and firm representatives from 19 countries, which set up stalls over 98,000 sq m of exhibition space. The 2010 event was attended by 53,394 visitors from 69 countries, 2,883 of them from abroad.

Kayan

On show at Unicera were ceramic tiles, vitreous ware, pools, saunas, taps, bathroom and kitchen furniture, sustainable sanitary ware products and natural stone tiles, accessories and related publications, as were digitally-printed ceramic tiles, produced using the latest technologies.

A total of 27 companies from the Turkish Ceramics Promotion Group (TCPG) attended the show displaying their latest innovative and stylish products. These included Altın Ceramic, Bien Ceramic, Creavit, Dogvit, Duratiles – Duravit, Ece Sanitary Ware, Ege Ceramic and Sanitary Ware, Graniser Ceramic, Granist, Hitit Ceramic, Idevit, Kale (Canakkale Ceramic – Kalebodur), Kutahya Ceramic, Pera Ceramic, Sanovit, Seramiksan, Seranit, Serel, Sogutsen Ceramic, Tamsa Ceramic and Granite, Termal Ceramic, Turkuaz Ceramic and Sanitary Ware, Umpas Ceramic, Usak Ceramic, Vitra, Yurtbay and Yuksel Ceramic.

“Turkish ceramic companies have really proved successful in keeping abreast with the latest trends, and displayed some new conceptual products of tiles and different designs,” says a spokesman for TCPG.

TCPG chairman Bahadır Kayan comments: “Unicera has been growing year on year. We noticed that in 2009, there were lots of foreign visitors, not only from adjacent regions but also from European countries and the Far East. There was a lull in foreign attendance last year but this year again we have experienced an increased number of foreign visitors from a diverse geography, from Belgium to Sudan and from France to Hong Kong. This indicates that Unicera is becoming more of an international event particularly attracting visitors from the European, and Middle East and North Africa regions – in fact, every country that falls within a three to four-hour flight distance.”

Products by Graniser Ceramic.

“Also, the quality of the show is rising. Going around the booths, one would have seen that the novelties displayed are state of the art. We at the Turkish Ceramics Group also focus on promoting the fair alongside the organisers,” he adds.
Unicera exhibitors expressed satisfaction with the fair and were of the belief that such events not only boost their individual business but also the sector as a whole.

Speaking to Gulf Construction, Kutahya Ceramic’s export director Fatih Ozcelebi said: “Unicera is a very important exhibition, and we have been coming here for more than 10 years now not only to target the local market but also the export market. The number of foreign visitors has increased. In the past, visitors came only from neighbouring countries but now we have those from farther in Europe and the US.”

The company had a 500 sq m stand at this year’s show. Last year, it exported to more than 45 countries, with its top export destinations having been Iraq, Northern Europe, Canada and the US.

Kutahya Ceramic has been focusing on the Gulf and has taken part in major exhibitions such as The Big 5 editions in both Dubai, UAE, and recently Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, through its local representatives, to gain access to the local markets.

Ozcelebi commented that the Gulf was mainly a market of large projects, with fewer opportunities in smaller projects like houses and renovation. “But we definitely need to be more organised in the Gulf region and are regularly on the look out for strong local representation,” he said. Saudi Arabia, according to him, is a good market, which the company had penetrated some four years ago and where response has been strong. In fact, it was the sixth largest export market for the company last year. Kutahya Ceramic along with its Saudi representative has a 1,500-sq-m showroom in Jeddah.
Aysen Uz, brand and communication manager of Kale, the largest ceramic producer in Turkey, has similar views about the Gulf market. The company, which owns the famous Canakkale and Kalebodur brands, accounts from half of Turkey’s exports of ceramic products alone, with 60 per cent of this going to European countries. It exports to 65 countries worldwide, with its top export destinations being England, France and Germany. Kale is a renowned brand in the Gulf and the wider Middle East region with numerous reference projects in Dubai, where it has a large showroom. It is also represented in Qatar and Saudi Arabia through local distributors.

Uz said that while Kale’s products were comparatively more expensive than those of other Turkish competitors, the company has an edge over them in terms of design, quality and choice. Kale produces 200 new products every year, using the latest technology, she added. At Unicera this year, the firm displayed products with marble and three-dimensional designs, amongst others.

Like all major companies, Kale actively participates in exhibitions in various regions either directly or through local distributors.

Another major exhibitor this year was Seranit, which had the whole Hall 8 to itself and a number of new and innovative products on display. The company currently produces 8.5 million sq m of porcelain tiles and is poised to launch a new $5-million factory, which will initially produce 8 million sq m of tiles – 5 million sq m of wall and 3 million sq m of floor tiles – in addition to its Sera brand in ceramic. “In the next phases spread over five years, Seranit will add three more factories of porcelain, ceramic and sanitary ware,” said Atacil Bozkurt Gucel, the company’s deputy general manager.
Seranit currently sells 40 per cent of its output to more than 65 countries, where it exports directly under its own brand name. Its top markets include Holland, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Ukraine and Russia. Gucel was happy with the response from the Middle East market, where the firm is currently doing well in Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Syria.

Volkan Desinbay, the sales and planning manager of Ege Seramik, one of the oldest ceramic companies in Turkey, said the company was using Unicera to find new markets for its products. Claiming to be the first to have introduced digital technology into production in the country, the company exports nearly 35 per cent of its production, with leading markets being the US, Canada, Syria, Iraq and England. In the Gulf, Saudi Arabia is its main market. Set up in 1972, Ege Seramik has an annual production capacity of 24 million sq m.

Turkish ceramics
In line with global demand and trends, Turkish ceramics companies have become increasingly environment-friendly and are using the latest green technologies to meet international and especially European environmental standards. All companies have quality control departments that ensure all standards are met during the manufacturing process, according to the TCPG spokesman.

While industrial production of Turkish ceramic ware actually started in 1950, the country has been handcrafting ceramics for nearly 8,000 years. Today, Turkey is among the world’s leading ceramic tile and sanitary ware manufacturing countries with rapidly rising export figures and production capacity. “The country’s production capacity, which has reached €2 billion ($2.83 billion) in value through investments in modern technology and high quality raw material reserves, is enhancing the competitiveness of the Turkish ceramics industry in the global markets,” said the chairman of the TCPG.

In 2010, Turkey’s installed capacity reached 400 million sq m in ceramic tiles and 21 million pieces in ceramic sanitary ware. It exported 90 million sq m of ceramic tiles and six million pieces in sanitary ware. The industry, which exports 35 per cent of its tile production worth $480 million and 40 per cent in ceramic sanitary ware worth $160 million, ranks ninth in the world in ceramic tile production, fourth in exports and presently is the largest exporter in Europe of ceramic sanitary ware. “The Turkish ceramic industry has gained a reputation in the world as our country is rich in raw material used in ceramic production, it has trained manpower and has made recent investments in technology. Our products, which are almost entirely produced using domestic inputs,” he said.

Next year’s Unicera will be held in March at the same venue.