Business with Turkey

Furniture production in Turkey dates back to the 19th century and was done in small workshops as an artisan production. Today, furniture is produced both in workshops and industrial-scale manufacturing units. Furniture production is highly fragmented among a large number of small workshops. These small workshops play an important role in producing handcarved and handmade furniture. Workshops are flexible establishments in nature and have enough capacity and labor force to expand their production line in order to supply large orders. Most of existing furniture factories and large workshops have been in business since 1975. Large-scale furniture firms produce standard models by using automated mass-production techniques and most of their production is oriented towards exports.

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Furniture production in Turkey is concentrated mainly in Ankara, İstanbul, İzmir, Bursa, Adana, Eskişehir and Kayseri. The largest furniture manufacturing district in Turkey, called ?Siteler?, is located in Ankara. The number of small and medium sized enterprises in ?Siteler? is about 5065. In Ankara there are many labour ? intensive small enterprises manufacturing furniture and there are about five major furniture manufacturers who have mass-production capabilities. The second most important furniture production districts are İstanbul and the region of Bolu-Düzce which is famous for its production of wood products. İzmir also has a furniture production district called ?Karabağlar? which supplies furniture to the Aegean Region. The wood industry is developing rapidly in the İnegöl-Bursa area, the fourth most important furniture production region, which is surrounded by forest areas. The furniture industry of the İnegöl area is small sized but has great potential to improve itself. Another important furniture region is Kayseri, which has large capacity for the production of sofa-beds and couch beds.

In Turkey furniture manufacturing production can be classified as massive furniture and veneered furniture. As it is known for being good quality furniture, the types of wood used and plywood inputs have to be taken into consideration. The main types of wood used in the manufacture of massive furniture in Turkey are ash, beech, oak, pine, linden and mahogany. In veneered furniture oak, beech, walnut and mahogany are used.

Turkish furniture factories use the latest technologies in producing furniture, which is always up to world standards. Since 1990 the application of advanced technology and the use of CNC benches in the Turkish furniture industry have been increasing. Today about 53% of large enterprises in the furniture sector are using CNC benches.

Turkey?s furniture exports have had an upward trend in recent years. The exports of Turkish furniture increased from 14 million dollars in 1988 to roughly 127.6 million dollars in 1999. This is mainly due to improvements in quality.

In 1999 Turkey exported furniture to more than 80 countries throughout the world. The main markets for furniture exports are Germany, Israel, France, Holland, Austria, England and Saudi Arabia.

The Turkish contracting sector is one of the major sectors exporting service. Turkish contractor companies who have undertaken construction works abroad have completed many housing complexes, tourism projects, hospitals and health center projects, most of which were decorated with Turkish furniture.