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TURKEY
said İbrahim Yalciner, Managing Director, Administration and Finance, Billas Lastik ve Kauçuk San Tic A.Ş.
Billas set up its production facility in Bilecik, in midwest Turkey, back in 2011. The company produces a
Billas has the capacity to manufacture 1,500 tonnes of tread rubber annually but is currently producing around 1,300 tonnes. “Currently, we are supplying tread rubber largely in the Turkish market, but we are now looking at
in the high-end markets also. “We are keen on expanding in the European market with our whole product range,” he said.
Billas Group company Ovakent set up a retreading plant in Bilecik as recently as July. “The strategy is to expand our retreading operation in the Anatolia region,” 􏰀brahim said. Ovakent has another retreading plant in Izmir. Both plants source
precure and conventional rubber from Billas.
The Bilecik plant is installed with two Banbury mixers of 150 & 75 tonnes capacity. Billas manufactures precure tread rubber under two brands ‘Maxigold’ & ‘Silvermax’. “Maxigold is a premium brand and Silvermax is a budget brand for the price sensitive segment,” he informed.
İbrahim Yalciner, General Manager, Billas Lastik ve Kauçuk San Tic A.Ş
range of tyres from two-wheeler to agricultural, precure and conventional tread rubber and conveyor belts in a 93,000 sq metre facility.
opening export markets,” he emphasised.
Currently, Billas’s export market is mainly in the Middle East and Africa, but the strategy is to expand
One of Turkey’s largest and most important retread companies TATKO is set to expand by opening new plants on the European side of Istanbul and in Izmir to cater to its clientele in those areas. According to the company, the Turkish market has become increasingly competitive, and the strategy is to reach closer to the customer.
“We are not allowed to import casings into Turkey 95 per cent of the casings in the market belong to the customer,” explained Halil 􏰀brahim Acikgöz, Director (Commercial Tyres), TATKO Lastik
San.ve Tic. A.Ş. “Furthermore, fleet owners prefer to have their retreads delivered the very next day, and with the kind of traffic we have in Istanbul, it is difficult to deliver all the way to the European side by the next morning. Therefore, a new plant is planned on the European side of Istanbul. Moreover, there are some big fleets on the European side and a plant in this area of Istanbul would serve our customers right there,” he added. TATKO is currently Michelin’s Recamic dealer on the Asian side of Istanbul. TATKO says it is likely to have the
TATKO to Open Retread Plants in Istanbul and Izmir