‘‘We Are the Strongest Player in the Yarn Market’’
Mem Tekstil which is always a reliable partner for its customers with its strong infrastructure and a management understanding that always invests in technology, is constantly increasing its share in the market with its wide range of high-quality products. The company continues to make a name for itself through the projects that it has developed.
Since its establishment, Mem Tekstil has expanded its product range by investing in new technologies and transformed into a fully integrated facility by increasing its market share. It maintains its leading position in the market with its success in compact, blended, and mélange yarns.
Having made great contributions to the Turkish textile industry, which has proven a very successful fight during the troublesome coronavirus pandemic period, Mem Tekstil has devoted some of its yarn and knitting production capacity to the production of protective masks and medical materials during this devastating period and carried out the necessary studies to meet both domestic and international demands.
Cenap Aktepe, the Technical Manager of Mem Tekstil emphasized how strategically important the textile industry is during the pandemic period and continued his statement as follows, ‘‘We should see this not only as the success of the yarn but also as the success of the whole textile industry and the positive results of strengthening the infrastructure of yarn, apparel and nonwoven with the right investments made in the past.’’
What is the current position of Mem Tekstil’s dominance in the Turkish and world markets? Which countries do you have the most demand for your products?
Mem Tekstil continues to be a reliable partner for our customers with its strong infrastructure and a management understanding that constantly invests in technology. It continuously increases its market share with its wide range of high-quality products. It has a decisive voice in the market, especially in compact, blended, and mélange (gray and colored) yarns. The most important part of our exports is European countries (especially Italy, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Serbia, France, Bulgaria, Greece, and Ukraine). In addition, we also carry out exports to countries such as Iran, Tunisia, Israel, and Azerbaijan.
What is the daily yarn production capacity of your manufacturing facility? For which sectors do you mostly produce?
Our daily yarn production capacity is around 160 tons. Especially with our 4800 spindle Vortex air-jet capacity, we are the strongest player in the market in ecru, gray mélange, and colored mélange air-jet yarn.
As you know, yarn played an important role in the production of protective medical textiles during the pandemic period. During the same period, Turkey contributed great help to many countries in this area. How do you evaluate the success of the yarn industry at this point?
During the troublesome coronavirus pandemic, the Turkish textile sector passed a very serious test and worked very devotedly with both domestic raw material production facilities and robust ready-to-wear companies that turned these raw materials into final products. Besides meeting the need for masks and protective gowns, it also provided material and equipment support to many countries. This situation once again showed how strategically important the textile industry is. We should see this not only as the success of the yarn industry but also as the success of the entire industry and the positive results of strengthening the yarn, apparel, and nonwoven infrastructure with the right investments made in the past. In this difficult period, Mem Tekstil allocated a part of its yarn and knitting production capacity to the production of protective masks and medical materials and carried out the necessary studies to meet both domestic and international demands.
What kind of studies are carried out for the spinning sector in Turkey? Does your company pursue R&D and innovation studies in this context? Can you please provide information about these?
During the troublesome pandemic period, the concepts of close in proximity and local procurement especially came to the fore. In this case, Turkey became advantageous in the market. After the end of the pandemic period, the yarn sector will continue its investments without slowing down. In the new period, not only additional capacity increase but also investments in automation and digitalization should be on the agenda. As Mem Tekstil, we are working on modernizing our old facilities and strengthening the technological infrastructure with new investments.
Particularly, interest in environmentally friendly sustainable products is advancing with each day passing by. We have started to include more of such products in our creations that we have prepared by focusing on recycled yarns in our R&D studies.
In addition, we are producing yarns with very high color-fastness in our mélange and colored group with the work we do with fibers dyed with the dope-dyeing method.
Again, as a result of our work with AKSA in our air-jet group, we have produced vortex air-jet yarns and fabrics that do not lose their anti-bacterial properties after washing, prevent the formation of odor, quickly remove sweat from the body, have breathing properties, and have these properties registered in international laboratories.
How do you evaluate the first half of 2020 on behalf of your company? Could you tell us about your expectations for 2021 and regarding your future projects?
The first half of 2020 was a difficult period when the whole world was struggling economically, global trade came to a halt, and states tried to keep the real sector alive with economic support packages. As Mem Textile, we continued our production without burdening our state and without having our employers let go. Despite all the incidents, without losing our hope, we strongly believe that our textile industry will heal its wounds very quickly by relying on its experience, infrastructure, and power. We had a denim project, on which we have been doing feasibility studies for a long time. We are planning to concentrate a little more on this project in the upcoming period. In addition, our research and investment plans continue on fiber dye and yarn dye.
Interview: Kübra KARACA
