Turkey Financial News

Posted by meb at April 26th, 2009

The Nourah of Riyadh, the megayacht produced in the Kocaeli Free Zone, was delivered to its owners with a ceremony Friday. The yacht, which cost 40 million euros, will be used by Saudi Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz.

Speaking at the ceremony at the free zone, State Minister Kürşad Tüzmen said Turkey has become the third in yacht production, while standing at No. 7 in shipbuilding.

The 65-meter-long yacht is the biggest megayacht produced in Turkey. “We like to break records,” Tüzmen said. “With a new record, we will build a 75-meter-long yacht here next time.” (more…)

Posted by meb at March 20th, 2009

IMFA Group, India’s leading manufacturer of ferroalloys, is planning to invest in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas, the Sivas Chamber of Commerce and Industry (STSO) said in a statement on Thursday.

The province is home to rich underground mineral reserves, the statement noted.

IMFA Group will cooperate with Turkey’s Yazici Group in its investment, the statement said. IMFA Group General Director Arvind Mishra paid a visit to the STSO’s headquarters as part of his research into investment opportunities in Sivas and had talks with the STSO Chairman Osman Yıldırım on Thursday. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 10th, 2009

Turkish industrial production slumped 21.3 percent in January, the most since at least 1986, as exporters unable to find buyers suspended production and fired workers. This was the sixth consecutive monthly drop.

The drop in production compares with a revised 17.8 percent in December, the Turkish Statistical Institute, or TÜİK, said on its Web site yesterday. Output was expected to decline 19 percent, according to the median estimate of nine economists polled by Bloomberg. (more…)

Posted by meb at March 10th, 2009

The capacity utilization rate in the Turkish manufacturing industry was down in February, the statistics board announced on Tuesday.

Turkey’s Board of Statistics (TÜİK) made public the tendencies in the manufacturing industry in February 2009, and said the capacity utilization rate dropped to 63.8 percent in the mentioned month when compared with the same month in 2008. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 27th, 2009

Turkish durable goods maker Arçelik and its television-manufacturing unit Grundig Elektronik have decided to merge in order to increase their competitiveness, the companies said on Friday.

Shares in Grundig were 17.2 percent higher at 0.68 lira after the deal was announced, bringing gains over the last two days to 40 percent. Arçelik shares were 4 percent at 1.82 lira. The companies are both part of the Koç Holding conglomerate. Arçelik announced that it was also raising its capital to 649.9 million lira ($382 million) from 400 million lira in a rights issue. It also said it was selling shares in finance company Koc Finansal Hizmetleri to other Koc group companies for 250 million lira. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 25th, 2009

Two major tire manufacturers halted production in Turkey on Tuesday due to problems stemming from the ongoing global financial crisis.

Brisa Bridgestone Sabancı Tire Manufacturing and Trading Inc, a joint venture between Bridgestone Corporation of Japan, one the world’s largest manufacturers of tires, and the Sabancı Group, Turkey’s leading industrial conglomerate, halted production at their two plants in Kocaeli. Pirelli, the world’s leading tire manufacturer, also suspended production in their Kocaeli plant. Manufacturing will be halted for a week at the two Brisa factories. (more…)

Posted by meb at February 4th, 2009

Turkey’s shipbuilding industry, which has grown exponentially in the last six years with orders coming in from around the world, has sustained heavy damage from a drop in global demand, but a new stimulus package that aims to turn things around will soon be introduced.
Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım said the rescue package, which is full of measures to address the problems faced by shipbuilders, will be finalized in 10 to 15 days.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, the minister said preliminary discussions on the content of this package took place during the most recent Economy Coordination Board (EKK) meeting last month, when the problems of other major sectors were also discussed. (more…)

Posted by meb at January 8th, 2009

Turkish industrial production fell 13.9 percent year-on-year in November, due mainly a signification drop in demand in the automotive sector, the Turkish Statistics Institute said on Thursday. The figures reveal the largest drop in production since November 2001.

Turkish industrial output tumbled the most in seven years in November as demand for cars slumped in Europe and local automakers responded by halting production.

The Turkish economy has slowed sharply as the impact of the global credit crisis continues to be felt more deeply. Gross domestic product expanded 0.5 percent in the third quarter of the year, its slowest pace in six years, after growing 2.3 percent in the second three month term. (more…)