TURKEY: Turkish Textile Industry is looking Eastward to Boost Sector in the Face of Stiff Competition from China

Average textile labor costs of $2.88 an hour in Turkey compare with 60 cents in China, while energy costs in Turkey were around twice those in China, according to the association. Textile producers across Europe are fearful of a surge of imports from China this year as quotas expire for the EU. Quotas in the United States and other countries run until end-2008. The government had ignored the industry’s calls for action to confront the growing challenge and the sector had only clung to its 5 percent market share by focusing on lean production and developing in line with customer demands.

The primary vision of this sector is to move from being a supplier country to a market maker. That means being able to create more value-added products and being able to provide a service more rapidly. The textile and clothing sector in Turkey is largely made up of small and medium-sized firms, with notable listed players including Bossa and Altinyildiz. Officially some 900,000 people are involved in the sector, but including those in the unregistered economy this figure rises to around 2-2.5 million in a country with a total population of more than 70 million people.

Source: Ekathimerini.com