New Export Alliance Push for Aegean Chemicals: EGEPLASDER’s Call

Ege Plastik Sanayicileri Derneği (EGEPLASDER) Chairman Şener Gençer, during his visit with Ege Exporters Associations (EIB) Coordinator Chairman Muhammet Öztürk, renewed the call for a new union to consolidate the region’s chemical products exports.

Aegean Chemical Export Push for a New Industry Alliance

Production Strength and Export Benchmarks

■According to EGEPLASDER, over 3,000 firms operate in the region, with more than 200 exporting over $1 million annually.

■Turkey’s total exports stood at $21.8 billion (June 2026), of which the chemicals and products sector contributed $3.29 billion.

■The plastics and products sub‑sector posts a monthly export volume of $1.03 billion, ranking it the second‑largest contributor within the chemical sector and accounting for 4.7 % of Turkey’s total exports.

EIB’s Current Recording System and the Regional Export Gap

■While wind‑energy production in İzmir represents 85 % of national capacity, export records are filed through multiple associations, causing the Aegean’s true output to be under‑reported.

■Although EIB provides 100 % of its services in the Aegean, roughly 80 % of the associated revenue flows to Istanbul, Ankara, and Bursa.

■This mismatch is labelled an “injustice” that prevents the region’s export potential from being fully recognised.

Rüzgar Ersoy – Fintech and Banking Sector Director, notes that establishing a unified exporters’ body for Aegean chemicals would enhance data transparency, reducing information asymmetry that negatively affects banks’ net interest margins (NIM) and expanding alternative financing avenues that improve capital adequacy ratios (SYR). Centralising regional export records on a single platform would create more competitive terms for foreign‑currency financing and export‑credit rates, thereby lowering external financing costs for local producers.