AİMSAD/Kaçak: The Sector with a Current Surplus Will Maintain Its Export Momentum
The woodworking machinery sector, which closed the previous year with 160 million dollars in exports, is preparing to end 2024 with the same figure. Since 2017, the sector has consistently generated a current account surplus, with exports covering 160% of imports. Arif Onur Kaçak, a Board Member and General Secretary of the Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers Association (AİMSAD), shared his short and medium-term expectations.
Despite the challenging economic conditions in Turkey and worldwide, the production, employment, and export-focused woodworking machinery sector continues its stable growth. The sector is set to close the year with approximately 160 million dollars in exports and is optimistic about 2025 due to its uninterrupted current account surplus since 2017. Kaçak noted that their primary goals for 2025 are to strengthen their presence in existing foreign markets and to open up to new foreign markets. The top three countries to which the woodworking machinery sector currently exports the most are Russia, the USA, and Bulgaria. AİMSAD's targeted new markets in the short and medium term include Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
“We must capture a larger share of the global market,” Kaçak stated, emphasizing that the global size of the woodworking machinery sector is 15 billion dollars, while in Turkey it stands at 600 million dollars. He highlighted that this figure represents the revenue of one of the leading woodworking machinery manufacturers worldwide. "We primarily need to scale up. Both our industry and the public sector require a significant amount of time and well-planned efforts to achieve this," he added.
According to Kaçak, despite the challenges in the global economy, inflationary pressures, and currency fluctuations, the Turkish woodworking machinery sector has managed to maintain its presence in international markets with its export-oriented approach in 2024: “Since 2017, we have been generating a continuous export surplus. Achieving and sustainably maintaining this success requires great effort and dedication from all sector stakeholders. We believe our sector will once again contribute significantly to the national economy by generating an export surplus by the end of 2024. Given these challenging economic conditions, we anticipate that the Turkish woodworking machinery sector will demonstrate a similar export performance as last year. We will not evaluate closing our export figures at the same level as the previous year as a failure.”
Even though conditions may worsen, Kaçak summarized his expectations for next year: "For 2025, we anticipate that economic and sectoral challenges will increase further. However, our sector's innovative production structure, high value-added products, and rapid adaptability to changing needs give us confidence in overcoming obstacles. Our primary goal in the new year will be to expand our export volume while increasing our market share in existing markets and accessing new markets. Next year, we will continue to prioritize increasing our product diversity, strengthening our technological infrastructure, and sustainable production models. We firmly believe that our sector will continue to grow as a strong player not only in Turkey but also in global markets. In this regard, the upcoming Istanbul WoodTech Fair, which we will hold for the 38th time next year, and all trade shows with significant participation from our sector, especially the Germany Ligna Fair, are of critical importance. We believe that in 2025, the Turkish woodworking machinery sector will once again demonstrate its resilience and international competitiveness, leading to increased international collaborations."