24 June 1999: Turkey“s President Suleyman Demirel has opened two factories in a US$ 110 million joint venture between Pasabahce, part of the Turkish glass group Sisecam, and Germany“s Schott-Zwiesel…
24 June 1999: Turkey“s President Suleyman Demirel has opened two factories in a US$ 110 million joint venture between Pasabahce, part of the Turkish glass group Sisecam, and Germany“s Schott-Zwiesel Glasswerke AG. According to a recent report, the US$ 70 million glassware factory and US$ 40 million packaging plant in the western Turkish city of Eskisehir were set up by the 50/50 joint venture firm Pasabahce Schott Cam Sanayii and Camis Ambalaj, Sisecam“s packaging arm. Sisecam General Manager Adnan Caglayan told the opening ceremony that the glassware factory would have an annual production capacity of 40,000 tonnes, or 114 million units. He said the plant would mainly target the food service industry, namely five star hotels and restaurants in western Europe, the United States and the Far East. “We aim to get a 10% share in the world market for hotel, restaurant and catering glassware products,” he said. The glassware plant targets US$ 55 million of annual exports, including the first batch shipped to the United States for US$ 15 million. The annual sales target for the packaging plant was US$ 30 million, Caglayan said. About 40% of the packaging output would be used by group firms, he added. More than 700 people will be employed at the two factories. Sisecam group, with 15,000 employees and total annual glass output of 1.5 million tonnes, exports its products to more than 110 countries. The group has carried out investments worth more than US$ 1.2 billion in the last three years, Caglayan said. The group“s parent company Sise ve Cam Fabrikalari AS (Sisecam) is owned 73.3% by T.Is Bankasi, one of Turkey“s biggest commercial banks.