Historical development of Kastamonu wood integrated industry and its contributions to the country's economy (1969-2020)

Kastamonu province is one of the important provinces of Turkey in the wood industry due to its rich forest presence, the presence of a workforce with an experienced background that knows the wood sector, wide land opportunities, İnebolu port that can open up to foreign markets, the surrounding cities and being close to a big market such as Ankara. Due to this important position, the historical development of Kastamonu Wood Integrated Industry, which was established in Kastamonu, between 1969-2020 and its contributions to the country's economy constitute the subject of the study. The study started with the study of the History of Industry and the Industrialization in Turkey. Then, the Historical Development of Kastamonu Wood Integrated Industry, the Establishment and Activities of Kastamonu Particleboard Plant, the Investment Activities of Kastamonu Integrated Wood Industry in Turkey, Kastamonu Integrated Wood Industry's Investments and Activities Abroad, Kastamonu Wood Integrated Industry's Contribution to the Economic Structure of Turkey were examined in 5 sections. The source material of the study consists of Kastamonu Tree Integrated Archive Documents, Turkish Trade journals, Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey and the company's periodicals, history of industrialization, academic studies on the wood sector, journals and articles. While examining the subject, it was tried to reveal that Kastamonu Tree Integrated Industry, which started its production activities in 1971 with the opportunities of the period, has made significant contributions to the national economy by increasing production and sales in Turkey and in the world by making it more equipped with continuous new investments and modern mechanization until today. The KEAS factories have a production capacity of two million five hundred thousand m³ of MDF, three million hundred thousand m³ of particle board and seventy million m3 of laminate flooring per year. With a total annual income of 1 billion 4 million dollars, success in production and experience, and sales to over 100 governments, it ranked first in the wood industry. In addition to its leadership in Turkey, it also ranked fourth in Europe and seventh in the world. This organization has taken part in the mindset of obtaining the tree from 100% renewable facilities according to the demand of the customer, being sensitive to nature in production and leaving a clean world to future generations. Keywords: Kastamonu Integrated Wood Industry, wood industry, particle board plant, investment activities, historical development, export and import figures