Due to the price increases in construction inputs, especially cement, construction contractors decided to quit their business. At the Turkish Construction Industry Consultation Meeting held under the leadership of the Construction Contractors Confederation (IMKON), it was decided to stop the constructions on Thursday, September 2nd.
Announcing the decision, İMKON Chairman Tahir Tellioğlu said that the cement industry continues to increase despite all attempts.
According to the news of Duygu Şahin Durmaz from Dünya, the Twitter accounts of the Secretary General of the Federation and some of the affiliated associations, especially the official account of İMKON, were closed after the decision of action was announced.
“Cement industry continues to increase”
IMKON will meet with the heads of unions and associations in Anatolia on Thursday, September 2, and initiate the boycott and action.
Tahir Tellioğlu, Chairman of İMKON, noted that "if the cement industry does not comply with the suggestions of the construction industry, contracting industry, public and the Ministry of Commerce in the near future, and if it continues to raise arbitrarily, they will quit their business," said Tahir Tellioğlu, the Chairman of İMKON. He stated that the price of cement, which is 450 TL per tonne, was increased to 500 TL and a new increase of 12 percent was made.
The action decision received 80 percent support.
In his statement, İMKON Chairman Tellioğlu noted that they held an online "Turkish Construction Industry Consultation Meeting" with associations and unions in Anatolia.
Expressing that they took new decisions with this meeting and they will be put into practice, Tellioğlu said, “In our meeting, we decided to strike by 'stopping the constructions' at a rate of 80 percent. While 6 million residences are waiting for urban transformation, it is unacceptable for the cement cartel to raise two hundred percent, and it causes serious damage to 250 sub-sectors. We will move to the decision to stop work, regretting that we did not get any results from our attempts. While we are discussing whether we should stop the existing constructions in our meeting today, some of our colleagues support the process by not starting their construction at all. We will make a statement to the national press on Wednesday next week. On Thursday, we will come together with the heads of unions and associations from Anatolia and start the boycott and action.”
"They didn't listen to the minister's requests either"
Noting that construction materials have increased at certain rates after the pandemic, Tellioğlu recalled the processes experienced and said:
“The construction industry's basic materials, especially iron and cement, have increased exorbitantly from there. However, in the meeting we held under the chairmanship of our Minister of Commerce, Mehmet Muş, a discount was made in accordance with the demands of the ministry and us, and the iron prices were partially brought under control. But when it comes to cement, we are faced with an increase in price every day. Cement has almost no foreign input. There is no case of a product based on imports from abroad. The most important input of manufacturing costs is energy, soil, and when we put them on top of each other, we can accept that there will be an average of 50-60% cost increases. But 200 percent cost increases are not acceptable. The issue that we broke down in this process was when we met under the chairmanship of Mehmet Muş, our Minister of Trade 45 days ago, and they made the cement price 450 TL, which was 160 TL per ton last year. We objected to this, and the minister gave us the right. He had asked the cementers to show an understanding like the blacksmiths and offer some discounts. They too shook their heads vigorously. But let alone making discounts, there was a constant increase.”
Cartel accusation
Tellioğlu stated that despite the call for action, a price increase was made for cement, “On top of this, another 12 percent increase was made. When we evaluate all these, unfortunately, there is no good will, and as if this were not enough, they determined the cement regions in various parts of Turkey, parcel by parcel, contrary to the competition institution. This territory is yours, this territory is like me. There are sanctions such as you cannot sell cheaply to this region," he said.
"Descriptions of the cement industry do not reflect the truth"
On the other hand, Tellioğlu stated that there is pressure not to sell cheap concrete to the concrete manufacturers and said, “Concrete companies are also screaming. They are looking for us, they demand that if you do a strike, we want to join the strike.”
Responding to the statement of TÜRKÇİMENTO and the Cement Industry Employers' Union (ÇEİS) regarding cement prices, Tellioğlu made the following statement: “They made a statement a few days ago. It is said that the cement usage rate in construction is 3 percent, this does not affect the cost. This is an absolutely untrue statement. The average cost of cement in construction varies between 7 and 12 percent, depending on the nature of the construction. The reason for this is this. Cement is not only used in the concrete of the building;
TÜRKÇİMENTO and the Cement Industry Employers' Union (ÇEİS) made a joint statement on the news in the media regarding cement prices. Emphasizing that the claims of an extraordinary increase of 200 percent in prices do not reflect the truth, the statement stated that the share of cement in the entire cost of a first class building is approximately 3 percent, and the statement "Associating price increases in the construction industry with the cement industry does not reflect the truth".
In the statement of ÇEİS and TÜRKÇİMENTO, the following is stated regarding cement prices: “In July 2021, petcoke prices increased by 270 percent, imported coal and electricity prices increased by 193 percent and 64 percent, respectively, compared to July of the previous year. In the same period, the dollar rate increased from 6.86 TL to 8.63 TL. Despite all these developments, the prices in the sector are far below the cost increase.”
In his statement, TÜRKÇİMENTO CEO Volkan Bozay also said, “It is very sad that the construction industry is focusing on the scenario of going out of business/striking, and trying to cost this to the cement industry. It does not seem reasonable to try to target our industry as the cause of the problems experienced in the construction industry.
Support from Anatolia for IMKON's decision to act
Support came from the industry for IMKON's posts on Twitter. Contractor associations doing business in Anatolia, especially Antalya, Urfa, Mersin, Malatya and Konya, announced on their twitter accounts that they are with İMKON in the decision to be taken.
In the statement made by the Anatolian Building Contractors Association, “Contractors are not alone. We will put a stop to these unfair increases with our unions in 51 provinces and 5 federations affiliated to IMKON. We call on the Competition Authority. Now you can see that the locomotive of 250 sub-sectors with hundreds of thousands of employees is going to disaster”.
Twitter accounts suspended
After the announcement of the action, the Twitter accounts of İMKON and its affiliated associations began to be closed one by one. Tahir Tellioğlu, President of İMKON, made the following statement on the subject: “Dear friends, unfortunately, they closed the accounts of İMKON and our general secretariat. They could probably turn mine off too. It is not very important, we do all our struggles in the language they understand. I ask you to share the statements I made in response and your support comments below.” Meanwhile, the official accounts of Mersin, Antalya and Elazig IMKON were also closed.
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