Hes cable, deputy general director Şükrü Kakillioğlu

Hes cable, deputy general director Şükrü Kakillioğlu: As Hes cable, we are going to start the mass production of solar (photovoltaic) cables in 2014
As Hes cable Could you please draw a general view of the cable industry in Turkey for us? What is the situation in the cable industry, what kind of a restructuring can we talk about?
In Turkey, the cable industry consists of large and small more than 200 companies, and this has brought Turkey into a situation of a cable production base. However, in order for the domestic manufacturers in the market to do high quality and safe business the so called under counter manufacturers needs to be put under discipline. Because of the fact that the products we produce incorporate high levels of safety standards it is utmost important that the products correspond to quality standards. We think that the operation of companies in the market which are not competent in terms of the level of quality and reliability and the resulting unfair competition brought by it, would damage the industry in the medium and long term.
When we look out to the panorama of the Turkish firms in foreign markets we are in position to export quite effectively and seriously in our region. when considered that the world cable market is estimated to be worth $ 90 billion and the Turkey cable industry has a ratio of about 2 percent of this market It can not be said that we are a global player. Turkey ranks among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of total production capacity. China is top 1 in , where Mexico ranks the 2nd. place. When we look out to our exports of the last 5 to 10 years, we see that we have exported mainly to the same countries.
When we look out to these figures specific to Hes cable our products reach to 125 countries in every region of the world. We have realized thge export of 172 million dollars in 2013. We can say that regions like the Middle East and Africa which are incomplete in terms of urbanization is advantageous for the cable industry .
It is said that “The European markets are under the control of the institutions that purchase certain electrical materials”. Can you make direct cable sales to European countries?
We can directly make sales to European countries, but it cannot be said that we are at a proportionally adequate level. This is mainly because the domestic manufacturers are active in European countries and that the Turkish products are not preferred in terms of the prices unless there is a favorable level. When the costs of the standard products are at levels close to the price policies of the European manufacturers in undermining the chance to make sales these countries.
Moreover, because of the fact that these countries have created their own local standards and it is possible to say that it constitutes an indirect obstacle as demand the same quality certificates from the suppliers of the other countries in exports.
I wonder if is there the interpretation of West that this type of production is unwanted Among the factors that increased the production of cables in Turkey ?
General-purpose cable production does not contain a specific technological know-how and does not require very high investment costs. There is a constant demand on the user’s side. The product price is pretty high due to higher raw material prices. This situation encourages traders, contractors and new investors that deal with the cable for cable production. In conclusion we can say that in the standard type general purpose cables there is a production capacity over the demand and thus there is an intense competition that it is brought with it.
Due to low profit margins resulting from intense competition and as a result of the slowdown in economic growth the western countries do not consider the cable production industry as attractive. A portion of these facilities is closing down, some are being merged or they are moved to other countries where production costs are low.
Could make a statement about the place and the importance of cable in the social life especially about fire-resistant cables…
cables now hold a very important place in the world of that technology is developing rapidly. When we elaborate on the data such as smart home technologies, fiber optic cable needs, of course, we can see that the importance of cable increased day by day. in addition to this evident increase safety aspect are becoming more important .
Innovations are being experienced in the cable industry in parallel with technological advances. While The cables used in buildings are divided as power and data cables as the most important feature of these cables come to the fore as being in conformance with the fire safety standards. We see that the use of these cables started in the 80s and in recent years together with the legal regulations that the use has become compulsory in Europe and America especially in indoor public areas (schools, cinemas, hospitals, shopping centers, etc.) where the Concentration of people is high. Halogen-free flame retardant (HFFR) cables have been developed in order to protect human life, precious materials and important documents during a fire in places such as central corporate buildings, hospitals, shopping malls, hotels, cinemas, underground subways, power plants, fire-related centers where people gather up. During a fire in these buildings, fire alarm systems, air conditioning systems, elevators, warning and guidance lights, doors must be able to operate at least for a while. Therefore, the supply and control cables in these systems should be halogen free (HFFR) the security cables. When we consider reducing the effects of fire for people and goods, we should consider the halogen free, low smoke density, flame retardant, non-flame-propagating properties of cables.
We know that you are in a certain rank as of business in Turkey in terms of capacity? What about Turkey in terms of technology level?
Whereas there are corporate companies such as Hes Cable that invested in technology and continuously engaged in R & D activities in the market where there are a lot of producers; there are also firms using much simpler production techniques preserving existing technology and carrying out price-driven sales only. In the market while on one hand these price-oriented operating firms are creating the risk of causing economic losses to users together with the poor quality and non-standard products they offer to the market, on the other hand they are leading to an unfair competition.
Some of these companies engaged in non-standard production enter to export markets and as a result of the cheap but poor quality, non-standard products they offer they tarnishing the image of Turkey in export markets in question and create a situation against other exporters.
What are your new products and projects in 2014?
This year, we are starting mass production of Solar (photovoltaic) cables. We will give priority to the production of LSOH cables in parallel to the widespread use of low smoke density and the flame retardant cables and becoming standard in many projects.
On the other hand our struggle against the low-quality and non-standard products on the market will continue both individually and jointly with the cables and conductors association. We make much of this struggle, in terms of both corporate firms such as Hes Cable and users and in terms of the general interests of the country as well.