NEWSROOM

While the Ministry of Commerce in Turkey banned the export of container houses and prefabricated buildings to meet the need for shelter due to earthquakes, domestic manufacturers mobilized all their resources for 11 provinces under the coordination of AFAD.

TURKEY - Turkish industrialists came together to meet the need for temporary housing caused by the earthquakes that took place on 6 February. In order to meet the need for shelter, prefabricated building and container house companies and the manufacturers of the sandwich panels used in the construction of these structures rolled up their sleeves. Teknopanel, the ISO 500 company that produces sandwich panels used in the construction of container houses and prefabricated buildings, also mobilized all its production and logistics capabilities for the supply needs of container house manufacturers. For the first phase of the container city project, the company has made an agreement for the production of a total of 2.8 million square meters of polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulated sandwich roof and facade panels until the end of June.

Ministry of Commerce contacted manufacturers

A crisis center was established under the Ministry of Industry and Technology, where organized industrial zones (OIZ), industrialists, and non-governmental organizations that make up the supply, production, and logistics ecosystem will work in coordination with AFAD. Announcing that the export of container houses and prefabricated buildings will be banned for 3 months as of February 15th in order to quickly meet the need for temporary shelter after the earthquakes that occurred on February 6th and the aftershocks continued, the Ministry of Commerce announced that Panelder (Insulated Continuous Panel), the only non-governmental organization in the sandwich panel industry,  also contacted the Manufacturers Association. Within the scope of the project carried out under the coordination of AFAD, it was decided to cooperate with the big container structure manufacturers of the sector.

Teknopanel General Manager Orhan Kahveci, stated that they hold the production leadership with 4 production lines in the sandwich panel sector and said; “As Teknopanel, the supplier of Turkey's largest prefabricated building and container house manufacturers, we have mobilized all our resources. We are producing nonstop every day of the week in order to respond to the demands of the manufacturers.”

It will contribute to the construction of approximately 43 thousand container houses until July

As part of the project carried out under the coordination of the Ministry of Commerce and AFAD, the sandwich panel manufacturer responds to the 2.8 million square meters insulated sandwich roof and facade panel demand of these companies for the construction of container cities. In addition, Orhan Kahveci, who stated that they have an average of 800 thousand square meters of sandwich panel production capacity per month, said, “About 70 square meters of sandwich panels are required for the construction of a container. The orders we have received within the scope of the project so far provide the sandwich roof and facade panels required for the construction of approximately 43 thousand container houses. In addition, in the first days following the earthquake, we supported approximately 200 thousand square meters of rock wool and PUR-insulated sandwich facade panels for container cities established in earthquake zones.

Production capacity of 13.5 million square meters

Teknopanel General Manager Orhan Kahveci, who stated that they have been operating since 2005 and are the biggest supplier of the sector in terms of production capacity, concluded his evaluations with the following words; “34 thousand in Mersin, 35 thousand in Sakarya, 46 thousand in Izmir and Istanbul. We carry out a very active production process at strategic points in Turkey with our production facilities of 8 thousand square meters. Our annual total production capacity is 13.5 million square meters for sandwich panels and 1.6 million cubic meters for EPS products. We will increase our global production capacity by putting our first overseas facility in North Macedonia into operation in the second half of 2023. As a company that established Turkey's first R&D center in its sector, our facilities where we produce at high-quality standards are among the most modern facilities in Europe. We are always ready to do more under the coordination of our ministries and AFAD for the needs of the region where the state of emergency has been declared.”