The importance and problems of the ceramics industry in Turkey's economy

Ceramic is one of the oldest material used from past to present. Ceramic, the production of which began with the making of pottery, at the present, has important science and technology as well as being an industry branch. Today it produces and exports enough to compete with the world. This thesis is an important study in terms of revealing the role of Turkey's highly competitive ceramic industry in development. The study aims to determine the spatial distribution, usage of raw material resources, national and international competitive powers, problems and its possible solutions of the Turkish ceramic industry. As a method within the scope of the study the process was completed in three stages. In the first stage; a literature review for the ceramic industry was made, and ceramic factories established in Turkey were identified. In the second stage; a field study was carried out, and during this study, questionnaires and interviews were held in the factories. In the third stage; the data obtained during the literature review and the results obtained from the survey application were mapped with the help of ArcGIS 10.8 program. In the findings of the study; high energy costs of ceramic factories, insufficient railway transportation and expensiveness of the other transportational options, and lack of qualified workforce were determined as important problems. It has been tried to provide solutions to the identified problems. The usability of the ceramic industry as a tool in development which is the hypothesis of the study, was determined for Turkey and especially for the Southeastern Anatolia Region; the effects of the Southeastern Anatolia Region's proximity to the Middle East and eastern markets on the development of the region were examined in a special section. Turkey, which is at the forefront of particularly the production and export of ceramic coating materials and ceramic sanitary ware, ranked 8th in the world in the export of ceramic products, 4th in the export of ceramic sanitary ware and 5th place in the export of coating materials in 2020. With this feature, Turkey is one of the important associates of the competition in the world. This study was prepared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many sectors, the ceramic industry has also been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world and Turkey were evaluated from the point of view of the ceramic industry in this study. It was determined that while the exports and imports of many countries decreased during the pandemic process, Turkey increased its exports.