Welcoming the representatives of the sectoral magazines in the Aegean Exporters' Association meeting hall, the Presidents of İMİB and EMİB gave information about the problems experienced and the gains achieved in 2021 in the information meeting. Aydın Dinçer, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of İMİB, who took the first floor at the information meeting, started the evaluation meeting by evaluating the export figures.
“If we make an evaluation of the last year in terms of exports, we have not yet reached the pre-pandemic figures in block exports, but that we had a successful year in processed product exports in such a difficult period. The volatility in the economy and the high exchange rates lead us to export more. In addition to our container providing problem today we have another problem regarding the containers. Transportation companies have started to ask for high compensation amounts claiming that their containers are getting damages while carrying marble blocks. Such claims have been increasing every other day.”
Damaged container costs gave trouble to mineral exporters
Dinçer continued his words about the problem as follows: “Last year, we had serious problems with containers. First we had difficulty in finding containers. Then, when we found, the prices were really high. When we found available containers, this time the buyers cancelled the transactions and our goods had to wait at ports or warehouses. We had to pay extra fees for them. Especially since the last two years, the transportation companies have been demanding extra fees on the grounds that their containers are getting damaged while carrying blocks. In addition, instead of replacing the damaged container, all shipment is stopped and their transfer from the transshipment port is not allowed. The goods of the companies are kept in the port sometimes for several months on the pretext of surveys to be carried out, This delay causes customers to suffer damage and to cancel their next orders since they lose their trust in the exporter companies. We are working to solve this problem; we will prepare a roadmap and announce it to the companies. In this context, we will check the contracts in detail, we will specifically state that we are loading blocks of marble when renting the containers, and we will ask for the past registry files of the containers. In addition, we will consult with lawyers who are experts in the field of maritime, for the penalties that are requested from us. We made an agreement with them and we will sign the agreements in a very short time. We will also receive support from the consultancy company to recover the fees paid by our companies before.”
We must submit our forest permit application files full and complete
“Another important problem that has been going on since the past is the issue of forest permits. Due to a system infrastructure work that took place in the General Directorate of Forestry for a while, a large number of application files were accumulated in the general directorate, but now the process has accelerated and most of the pending permits have been granted. There are still files that were rejected for reasons that are not in the legislation. We have started a new study on this subject. We send the application numbers and names of the companies that have submitted their application files to the general directorate and are pending, to the Ministry every one and a half months. They collectively report us the state of each file. As we know from our meetings with the Ministry, many companies are still waiting due to missing or incorrect documents or their applications are rejected. We receive consultancy services from engineering consultancy companies for the preparation of application files for companies. At this point, we need to inspect these consultancy companies we and ensure that our application files are delivered to the Ministry complete from the very beginning.”
We must eliminate the negative perception towards natural stone sector.
We have been working towards changing the negative perception towards our sector. In this regard, it is important that we convince people who are known for their sensitivity to nature and the environment, especially in public opinion. We take these people especially to the rehabilitated fields and we show them the right mining practices so that they share what they see in this field with the public and the negative perception on the sector starts to change. Our primary goal is to spread the responsible mining approach to all companies operating in our sector.”
We introduce Turkish natural stone to the world
Dinçer, stating that they are working for Turkish natural stone to reach new markets abroad, said: “Thanks to our trade delegations, we are explaining the added value created by natural stones to mass audiences. Participants of these trade delegations, get the opportunity to reach new markets. We have also carried out online studies to introduce various types and patterns of Turkish natural stone to architects who are the decision makers on the natural stone selections during the pandemic process. We organized a "Turkish Travertine in Contemporary Design and Architecture" titled webinar for the USA market and "The Design Opportunities of Natural Stone" themed webinar with the American Institute of Architects. We showed them the successful use of Turkish natural stones. We participated in Milan Design Week with the “Turkish Stones Library” exhibition. Therefore, we had the opportunity to show the potential of our country in this field by exhibiting the Turkish stone library in Italy.
Human and nature comes first
Chairman of the Board of Aegean Mine Exporters' Association (EMİB), Mevlüt Kaya, in his speech at the consultation meeting, expressed the importance of the joint action of all institutions and boards of the sector, being one voice and one heart. He underlined his satisfaction with the strength they received from the union in the struggle they started with the motto, “Human and nature comes first without exception!” Kaya stated that the joint action of all the actors in the sector will raise the sector to a better level. In his speech, Mevlüt Kaya said, “We have reached a consensus on self-check in our meetings with all union presidents and 16 NGOs. I sincerely believe that we will be a force that overcomes problems by activating our own local dynamics and that changes the negative perception in the eye of public. In this regard, I would like to thank all our stakeholders. We had a very productive meeting with İZFAŞ regarding MARBLE 2022 and we are very satisfied with the result of this meeting on behalf of the sector.”
