Having expanded through mega projects, construction, and shopping mall developments, Rönesans has now added industry to its portfolio. Its first investment in Ceyhan aims to help close Türkiye’s annual current account deficit trade balance by 300 million dollars, while the region itself will offer significant opportunities for new investors.
Meeting with a group of journalists, Dr Erman Ilıcak, Honorary President Emeritus of Rönesans Holding, said: “For 32 years, we have been operating abroad under the most challenging and competitive conditions. We are a global company with operations in more than 30 countries and 35,000 employees. More than half of our revenue comes from abroad. What we earn in some of the world’s toughest markets, we invest in Türkiye’s future.”
Exceeding 50 billion dollars
Dr. Erman Ilıcak noted that Rönesans is now ranked among the world’s top 50 and Europe’s top 10 international contracting companies in its field: “We have successfully completed 50 billion dollars’ worth of projects abroad. In Türkiye, we have invested around 10 billion dollars over the past 20 years. We have carried out these investments together with the foreign capital and international financing we have brought into the country.”He continued: “With this 2 billion dollar investment, including 1.3 billion dollars in international financing, we are building a polypropylene production plant with a capacity of 472,500 tonnes and a liquid bulk terminal. For the PDHPP plant, we have partnered with Algeria’s Sonatrach, and for the liquid bulk terminal, with Norway’s Stolt-Nielsen. Together with our partners, we have invested 700 million dollars in equity. We are working with more than 30 companies from 12 different countries on this project. Behind this lies a six-year journey of development and financing. About a year ago, we secured one of the largest private-sector financings provided entirely by international financiers and began construction.”
Enhancing competitiveness
Emphasising that Türkiye currently imports around 8 million tonnes of plastic raw materials annually, Dr. Erman Ilıcak said: “With this volume, we rank as the world’s second-largest importer of plastic raw materials after China. Polypropylene and polyethylene are among the products that account for the largest share of our foreign trade deficit. Only 4% of Türkiye’s polypropylene demand is met through domestic production, while 96% comes from imports.”He noted that this dependency creates stock, supply, and maturity risks for industrial producers: “It weakens our competitiveness and makes exports more difficult. This investment will reduce Türkiye’s reliance on imports and accelerate the development of our industry.”
Highlighting the project’s substantial logistics advantages thanks to its coastal location, access to raw materials, and proximity to key consumption hubs such as Gaziantep, Adana, and Kayseri, Ilıcak added: “We have secured the supply of raw materials by signing a long-term propane supply agreement with Sonatrach. For the liquid bulk terminal, we have partnered with Norway’s Stolt-Nielsen. We aim to complete our investments by the end of 2027.”
“We select countries that allow us to work with Turkish engineers and workers”
Dr. Erman Ilıcak stated: “We closed last year with a turnover of 4 billion euros, with around 50% of our revenue coming from abroad. We have major operations in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland, and we are now active in Central Asia. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan are our key markets. Our only criterion is to choose destinations where we can work with Turkish engineers and workers. Without them, it would be impossible for us to succeed.”
“Our doors are open”
Dr. Erman Ilıcak explained that before this investment they visited the Port of Rotterdam and Jurong Island in Singapore to study the world’s best examples, and designed an integrated industrial zone and port structure in Ceyhan based on these insights: “The Eastern Mediterranean Petrochemical Cluster and Port (DAPEK), which will also include our PP plant, has the potential to become one of Türkiye’s largest industrial zones. Acting almost like a ‘municipality of infrastructure’, we are leading the development of critical utilities, including electricity, natural gas, water, and railway connections. We have also launched feasibility studies for an additional investment of between 1 and 1.5 billion dollars in the industrial zone. Our doors are open to anyone wishing to invest in this strategic industrial hub of Türkiye.”
Investment to reach 14 billion dollars
Recalling that Türkiye has seen around 20 billion dollars of industrial investments over the past 15 years, each exceeding 500 million dollars in scale, Ilıcak said: “If we are to progress further, we must strengthen our domestic partnerships with international collaboration and produce high-value-added, high-technology products in our country. For our part, we will continue to invest our foreign earnings in Türkiye. Including our ongoing projects, we will raise our total investments in Türkiye to 14 billion dollars within the next three years. We believe in our country and will continue contributing to Türkiye’s future by producing, investing, and creating employment.”
Ceyhan Project in Numbers
- Total investment: 2 billion dollars
- Capacity: 472,500 tonnes per year (17% of Türkiye’s PP demand)
- Financing: 1.3 billion dollars international, 700 million dollars equity
- Commissioning: End of 2027
- Impact on current account trade balance: 300 million dollars contribution per year
- Energy & Emissions: 100% renewable electricity, 60% carbon reduction
- Welding school: 376 graduates
- Biodiversity: 9,000 sea turtles and 2,600 “hoşnergis” plants protected
Source: Milliyet