Concordat alarm in ready-made clothing.

While companies in the clothing sector, which have declared that they have not produced profitable production for a long time due to the contraction of export markets and the decrease in demand in the domestic market, are putting the concordat on the agenda, it is noted that the door has been opened to the elimination period. The sector, which is preparing to close this year with 19.6 billion dollars in exports, with a deviation of 15 percent from the objective, expects a similar scenario or a contraction in the market in the first six months of next year.

NO INVESTMENT ENERGY AND NO APPETITE

Ramazan Kaya and Sanem Dikmen, presidents of the Turkish Garment Manufacturers Association (TGSD), stated that there may be some eliminations due to financial and capital conditions in the first six months of 2024, with a new wave of losses expected. employment in case of business closures. Ramazan Kaya, who made assessments about the sector during his visit to the container city established by TGSD in Adıyaman to determine the needs of the region, noted that the problem of cash flow and lack of demand in the market continues and said: “In the current scenario, everyone is working on the concordat to ensure business continuity. These are not easy things to pronounce. At some point people have to freeze their jobs. If the condition decreases, the concordat occurs. If we do not capture the diversity of the market, it is not possible to achieve it even today. Maybe next year we will not be able to export 19 billion dollars, but rather we will go down to 18 billion. “We have neither the appetite, nor the energy nor the financing to invest in the current sector,” he said.

Ramazan Kaya

‘Import taxes pushed into inflationary environment

Ramazan Kaya stated that in the first 10 months the industry experienced a contraction of 9 percent in terms of turnover and 15.5 percent in terms of units, and that the share of the EU, where 70 percent of exports, fell to 59 percent. Kaya stated that the sector has experienced capacity losses of up to 40 percent: “Working with such low capacity is detrimental. That’s why we expect public support,” he said. Kaya said total employment in the earthquake zone is 20 percent and its share of capacity is 9 percent. Kaya said: “Import taxes did not have no deterrent effect. It pushed us back into an inflationary environment. While we were paying 30 percent taxes, we now pay 39 percent taxes. “While we cannot find resources for existing works, we now need to find resources for imports” , he claimed.