Şişecam Reported a Net Sales of TRY 152 Billion in 2023

Şişecam, a global player in the glass and chemicals industries, is moving forward on its growth journey that creates sustainable value. Şişecam announced its financial results for 2023, reporting consolidated net sales of TRY 152 billion and total exports (from Türkiye) of TRY 31.7 billion. International sales – the sum of exports from Türkiye and sales from production outside Türkiye – accounted for 60% of Şişecam's consolidated sales for the year. The company produced 5.2 million tons of glass, 4.7 million tons of soda ash, and 3.7 million tons of industrial raw materials in 2023.

Şişecam Chairman and Executive Member of the Board of Directors Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kırman stated, "In 2023, the effects of macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical risks continued. High inflation remained on the global agenda. Despite these challenges, Şişecam continued to realize its investments in 2023 thanks to its solid financial structure, robust financial policy, strategic decisions, and efficiency-oriented production. In 2023, we ignited Şişecam's first auto glass-dedicated float line in Lüleburgaz. We made cold repair investments in our furnaces in Georgia, Egypt, and India to modernize their technologies and boost their efficiency. We became a partner in ICRON, a Turkish technology company that provides operational and strategic decision optimization services. Our investment decisions gave Şişecam new strengths and capabilities. This in turn helped us successfully close a challenging year thanks to our competencies gained through One Şişecam transformation and our 88 years of industry experience. In 2024, more than half of the world's population will go to the polls. Compliance with ever-changing regulations will gain importance. High inflationary pressure and geopolitical risks are expected to persist. But Şişecam will move forward on its sustainable growth journey thanks to its well-qualified human resources and use of smart technology. "

We closely monitor opportunities in existing and prospective markets

Highlighting Şişecam's commitment to a steady and robust growth strategy in 2024, Prof. Dr. Kırman outlined the company's expectations and goals for the upcoming year Prof. Dr. Kırman continued as follows: “We are moving forward with determination towards our goal of ranking in the global top three in our main fields of activity. In line with our vision of creating sustainable value, Şişecam continues to invest in initiatives that bolster the growth of industries benefiting from its contributions. We not only effectively manage the impacts of risks and seasonality but also closely monitor opportunities in existing and prospective markets. Şişecam's investment in a two-furnace greenfield glass packaging production facility is currently underway in Hungary. Our new glass packaging furnace investment in Eskişehir will make the Eskişehir facility the largest glass packaging production site in the world. Şişecam is constructing a second frosted glass furnace that will produce energy glass in Mersin. Şişecam is also implementing a capacity increase at its Mersin soda ash facility; moving forward with its US natural soda ash and the Stockton Port Management project investments that will also support the logistics infrastructure. Construction of a new flat glass facility in the Tarsus OIZ is also ongoing. This year, we have announced our decision to invest in 20 million square meters of coated glass production lines to increase the share of value-added products in our total production volume and enhance our competitiveness in global markets. With these investments to be implemented in Turkey, Italy, and Bulgaria, we will almost double our coated glass production capacity. The next five years will be an intensive investment period for Şişecam. We will implement our investments by taking into account evolving market dynamics. We aim to expand our workforce, which now exceeds 24,000 persons, by around 5% in 2024.”

We are focusing on artificial intelligence, energy investments and sustainability

Prof. Dr. Kırman indicated that all of Şişecam's business operations and decision-making processes are centered around artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and sustainability: “We are seriously plannind on how we can benefit from technology in every field, how we can integrate it into our business processes and sustainability goals in the most effective way, and how we can boost efficiency and creativity. We aim to integrate artificial intelligence across all our operations. At Şişecam, we are in a constant state of evolution in machine learning, digital twins, quality, optimization, and smart manufacturing. One Şişecam transformation prepared us to benefit from and make use of the advantages of having an infrastructure ready for all these development areas. Şişecam has also accelerated its sustainability efforts in line with its goals of leaving a more livable world to future generations and boosting the efficiency of its business processes. We are transforming all our operations to achieve our Carbon Neutral 2050 goal. We are ramping up our renewable energy investments. We aim to establish wind power plants and invest in solar energy.  We have a strong interest in these key areas.”