“I was fascinated by the intensity of the colors on the marble”
Songül Baytekin, who is graduated Art Teaching Department of Burdur Faculty of Education from Süleyman Demirel University, is a painter and a graffiti artist. She started to make graffiti on block marble with Şayakçı Naturel Stone Company for the first time. The graffiti artist, who collaborates with the companies she works with, completes her drawing on a block in an average of 1-3 days. The artist, who was very impressed by her first graffiti on marble, expresses her feelings as follows: “I was fascinated by the marble surface, the intensity of the colors on the marble and the look of the drawing on the marble.”

A mythological journey
She maintained this art, which gained the appreciation and interest of natural stone customers, under the sponsorship of Dostlar Marble. The images of the sculptures of the Greek-Roman period on Dostlar Marble blocks received great acclaim and created a wonderful visual show on marble. The ancient images on the Marmara White Marble, which is called the building block of history, took the audience on a mythological journey through history. Finally, we hope that this art will be widely used in the promotion of Turkish natural stone and that it will appear again and again with interesting visuals, especially at fairs. Marble is an art in itself. But adding art to this art increases the interest even more.

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Brand awareness is now online

Instagram has become attractive for companies dealing with trade, especially after the pandemic, in terms of enabling fast and easy sharing, where visuality stands out. With posted posts and stories in terms of reminding their customers that they are always present and creating a new customer base the power of social media is growing with each passing day. However, the photographs, videos, texts and # hashtags used must be carefully prepared in order to convey the corporate identity to the target audience correctly. It is also very important to be stable. In the areas where competition is increasing, the brand must constantly remember itself. Companies that produce high quality, interesting content and communicate with their target audience in a strong way are getting one step closer to success by leaving their competitors behind. There are also many natural stone companies that bring brand awareness to the online space in a professional manner. We have compiled these companies that attract attention with their shares on social media, the new center of trade and marketing.

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Hiroshi Ito is famous with his incredible talent in making solid, hard stones look as light and soft materials. Hirotoshi turns these cold and hard materials into clothes, coin purses, breads, smiley faces and other surreal humorous stone sculptures with his magical hands and unlimited imagination.

“I would be honored if my work makes people laugh”

Hirotoshi Ito comes from a family who have been dealing with stone works since 1879,. Therefore, stone is a well-known material for him. After graduating from the Department of Metalworking at Tokyo Art University in 1982, he returned to the stone business of his family. He says: “Meeting other metal artists and their work at the school was the basis of my thinking and creativity. As a person who always enjoys humor and laughter, the smile on the face of the audience is the main motivation of my work. ” His work really reflects this idea.

“Every stone has a unique form”

Ever since I was born, I grew up surrounded by various stones, such as stone lanterns and tombstones, I live in Matsumoto City, a place that is surrounded by magnificent mountains and abundance of natural beauties. The stones extracted from these mountains have been washed with clean water streams for a very long time, and each stone has a unique form that has been created naturally. When I am collecting stones by the river, I imagine stories and artworks that I can create with them. Although the basic materials are natural stone, I combine various materials with them. However, I try to emphasize the natural shapes, colors and beauty of these stones and generally do not change their original shapes.”

Effects of surrealism

Hirotoshi Ito says that he uses diamond tools and sand blasting as well as chisels and hammers to shape his work and is inspired by the pioneers of surrealism, René Magritte and Salvador Dalí, whom he became interested in since high school years.

Two different categories of works

Japanese artist İto says the following about his works that he divided into two groups: ”One of my working fields are sculptures made of marble or granite which does not look like they are made of another material other than stone. The other group consists of river stones where I use the natural forms of stones and make changes and additions that give natural stones a different character. All of my work in both categories is about ordinary images, objects and experiences in everyday life. A distinctive feature of both types of work is the attempt to create the illusion that stone is more than stone or a completely different material. ”

Hirotoshi Ito says that when he’s working with stones, which are hard and fragile materials, when things don’t go well, he motivates himself with these words: “Don’t overdo it, don’t think too much, in the end everything will be fine.

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Istanbul Mineral Exporters’ Association (İMİB) organized the 2nd edition of “Our Life is Mineral” workshop, in order to discuss issues such as creating higher added value in the sector, increasing sustainable global competition power in export, evaluation of sectoral problems and solutions and create a road map in line with these main objectives, in Antalya.  In the workshop, which was organized under the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry, and Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the topics discussed for the future of the sector were “Mining in the World and Turkey”, “Mining Law and the Effects of Changes in the Law to the Sector”, and “Sustainable Mining”

“Our Life is Mineral”

Aydın Dinçer, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of İMİB, explained the framework of the event, where important topics such as the importance of mining, legislation, sustainable mining, occupational safety, environment and public perception were discussed, as follows: “Mining is a very difficult profession. Our quarries that we have been working for many years are among the most important facilities in Turkey, like the other industrial organizations. The cancellation of licenses in case of violations puts an end to our businesses. There is no such implementation in any of the other industrial sectors. The licenses of quarries should not be cancelled due to violations. We need to make a new mineral law together with all NGO’s and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources. Each product produced in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, glass, ceramics, construction, technology, automotive, chemistry, steel, energy, jewelry and clothing sectors is derived from minerals and minerals are for human. If we want these industries to develop, we have to process our mines. We should have a macro perspective and provide information to the public. Furthermore, although the mineral sector uses only 2,5 per thousand of the forest fields in Turkey, 58% of the income of the Forestry Ministry is derived from the mining sector.”

World-Class Mining

The General Director of Mining and Petroleum Affairs (MAPEG), Mehmet Bıçkıcı stated that the public sector had a new regulation and the general directorates were restructured. Bıçkıcı, who pointed out the importance of “The National Energy and Mining Policy”, said: “Under the policy, we will work towards strengthening the mineral sector, which is one of the most important sectors of our economy, by building a world-class structure. We will do our best in order to increase the share of mineral sector in GDP.”

Auditions Increased by 24 Percent

Mithat Cansız, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources; “We have been working towards increasing the share of the mineral sector in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from 1 percent to over 3 percent in the medium term. Our aim is to create a mineral sector with international qualifications. This is an easily accessible goal for us. In 2018, we audited 11 thousand 95 mining quarries at 8 thousand 88 mining sites. We achieved an increase of 24 percent in the number of inspections in comparison to 2017.”

The Level of Life Loss in Accidents Reduced by % 59

Emphasizing that the number of life loss in accidents have decreased by 59 percent compared to the previous year, Cansız mentioned that they established the Mining Education Center in order to ensure the development of the mining sector. He further said: “We have prepared geochemical maps to be a sub-base for mine exploration and research activities within the MTA General Directorate and we have initiated airborne geophysical studies. In 2018, we conducted 1.5 million meters of exploration activities. We also increased the mining activities in the international arena.”

Evaluation of Marble Residues

The second workshop of “Evaluation of Marble Residues” was held as a separate workshop within the “Our Life is Mineral” organization in Antalya with the participation of public and private sector representatives and expert academicians. The Head of MAPEG – Natural Stone Marble Department, Mümin Aydın and Prof. Dr. Atiye Tuğrul moderated the workshop where participants from different disciplines discuss the evaluation of marble residues in 10 main sectors including aggregate, cement, glass, ceramic and plastic sectors, residue legislation, incentives and supports.  The study and reports of 12 groups formed as the outcomes of the first workshop were presented to participants.

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The decline in our block exports was reflected on to the general exports. There are many factors that cause this decline. One of the leading factors is China. Turkey makes 82 % of the block exports and almost half of the natural stone exports to China. China has an important role for our sector. Turkish natural stone sector has been declining due to the economic recession in China, the problems with the USA, the exchange rate fluctuation, the shrinkage of the demand for security sales, the new environmental policies brought by the state and the existing stocks since the beginning of 2018. It seems that the problems will continue for a while.

Although the current market conditions led to a fall in demand, the demand for some stones, which were in fashion, continued to increase. Although Turkey is advantageous in terms of marble diversity, among other countries across the world, we have not been able to produce latest trend stones on demand, although we own their reserves, due to production delays caused by the bureaucracy. This was another main reason that caused decline in our natural stone exports. When Turkey’s cut to size material and block sales are reviewed, the reduction in USD based unit prices are remarkable. According to the information we have received after the visits of our friends from the sector to China, one reason for this decline is the price competition. This price competition was not only remarkable in the block but also in the size products markets as well.

At the stake of 2018, the sector was hoping for some adjustments in terms of the licensing processes and field permits regarding the mining facilities. Berat Albayrak, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of that period, had mentioned about some structural changes and a total change in the strategy, in the processes conducted by many related institutions, including the General Directorate of Mining Affairs.

However, the sector is still wasting up to 1, 5 – 2 years time, in order to receive mining license permits , especially for the mineral sites corresponding to forest and pasture areas  (EIA and Article 7 permits). Legal regulations on this issue were not sufficient.

If the statement, “We used to sell what we produces, but now we have to sell what we produce!” is correct and if we need to follow the natural stone fashion,  the mineral producers should do this. Institutions such us, on the other side, should save time for the investors that are able to fulfill the conditions. If we need to foresee the situation of the domestic market for the year 2019, it would not be wrong to say that the sector will be adversely affected by the shrinkage in the construction sector, the high loan rates, the increasing demands of companies for concordatum and current inflation rates. If the cut to size material exporters cannot resist the price competition, the natural stone producers will have to stop production in their high technology factories, which they have established in the last five years.

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IMİB, working to contribute to the development of the sector by carrying out activities to promote the natural stone products in the present and target markets, to improve its image and to increase the export potential, continues to organize sectoral trade delegations to different destinations. Within the scope of İMİB’s activities, 28 natural stone sector representatives visited eight warehouse / showrooms in Canada and had the opportunity to have B2B meetings with the buyers.

Bilateral Business Meetings

Bilateral meetings began after the opening speeches of Erdeniz Şen, Turkish Consulate General in Toronto and Mehmet Ekizoğlu, Turkish Commercial Attache in Toronto. Ekizoğlu, who accompanied the bilateral meetings throughout the day, shared information about Canada’s foreign trade, logistics and freight with Turkish companies. On the second day of the visit, the Turkish delegation visited Construct Canada (Stonex) fair and held individual meetings with the companies that had the potential to buy natural stone, in both the Stonex and Construct Canada halls.

Dinçer: “We focus on export for sustainable growth”

İMİB President Aydın Dinçer, stated that the participant companies of the trade delegation had the opportunity to meet significant natural stone companies and established promising business contacts in Canada. Dinçer said that the value of Turkish natural stone export to Canada was 30.9 million dollars in 2017. Dinçer also added that Turkey is the 10th leading natural stone exporter to Canada with 26,2 million dollars valued natural stone export in the first 11 months of 2018.

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Kaya: We Are Solving Our Problems Together

Mevlüt Kaya, Chairman of the Board of Directors of EMİB said in his speech: “We Are Solving Our Problems Together as a family in this sector. We achieved to raise the mineral revenue of this country from 5.5 billion dollars to 30 million dollars throughout our 26-year exportation journey. World natural stone sector export market ranges between 18-20 billion dollars. However, we get only % 10 share (2 billion dollars) from this pie. It is possible that our sector can reach 7-8 billion dollars worth of export via Professional marketing, supporting the exporters by UR-GE and selling end products.

Muğla Marble is a World Brand

Mustafa Ercan, the President of Muğla Marble Producers Association said: “The leading business in Muğla after tourism is marble production. Marble sector here offers work for 10 thousand people. Muğla Marble is a brand in the world.”

The President of EMİB Mevlüt Kaya, the Chairman of the Muğla Marble Association, Mustafa Ercan, the Vice President of EMİB İbrahim Alimoğlu and Erol Berberoğlu, and the EMİB Member of Board of Directors Faik Tokatlıoğlu presented the award plaques to the company representatives. Following the award ceremony, the event continued with dinner.

AWARD WINNING COMPANIES:

Mineral Sector top 3:

1.Mikroman Mineral

2.Mel Mineral Mining

3.Lütfullah E.Kitapçı Mineral

Natural Stone Sector top 3:

1.Nursan Marble

2.Egesan Marble

3.Fetmer Marble and Elif Alpay

16 Companies that made natural stone export over 500 thousand dollars in the first 11 months of 2018

Artemis Antik Marble

Ataya Marble

Aysan Marble

Çms Marble

Demircioğlu Marble

Depo Marble

Ermaş Mineral

Huda Marble

Kaymin Marble

Knİdos Marble

Koçar Marble

Lovedo Tourism

Mb Stone

Muğla Stone

Ysm Mineral

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As the sector, we aim to maintain our current position in 2019. We will continue working towards increasing our exports, as a measure against sectoral hurdles. The main task of exporters’ associations is to increase exports. We will continue to our sectoral trade delegation organizations, which we started in November 2018. We will organize sectoral trade committees every two months to target countries. In the last 6 months, we have conducted trade delegations for 5 countries. For next year, we will also organize trade delegations to Nigeria, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Germany, the USA, the People’s Republic of China, India, the UK, Qatar, Australia and other countries. In addition to protecting our existing markets, activities to increase exports to new markets are among our priorities. As İMİB, in order to introduce Turkish stone to the world, and make it a brand name worldwide, we will continue to participate in activities abroad with the “Turkish Stones” motto.

Within the scope of the financial problems experienced by the sector, the National Mining Resource and Reserve Reporting Commission was established. Through the reports prepared here, it is aimed to provide finance from financial institutions. With the Mining Law, the cancellation of licenses must be made complicated, so that financial institutions can accept licenses as assurance. As the mining industry, we strive to be in every area that human beings need. On the other hand, sustainable mining is very important for us. In this context, with the cooperation of the ministry, we are working on the importance and financial structure of marble along with sustainable mining. We know that; production is necessary for export and incentives are necessary for production. We have to work hard in 2019 and the following years in order to reach the targets set for 2023. We advocate the necessity of creating the mining law together with the sector. Quarries are also important such as the industrial organizations for Turkey’s economy. For this reason, at this point, it is necessary to realize investments and to increase government incentives for sustainable mining.

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Within the scope of the 16.URGE.014 Turkish Natural Stones cluster project carried out by Istanbul Mineral Exporters Association (IMIB), foreign marketing activities were held in London and Birmingham between 19-24 November 2018. 23 companies from 12 companies participated in the project. During the B2B meetings held in both cities, a total of 198 business meetings were held and 6 warehouse / showrooms were visited.

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The “Mineral Sector Award Ceremony and the Sectoral Vision Meeting”, which is organized by Istanbul Mineral Exporters Association (İMİB) for the first time this year, with the contributions of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, was held on 3 January 2019 at the Swissotel The Bosphorus Hotel, Istanbul. Within the framework of the meeting in which the future vision of the sector was discussed as well as the ways of creating and disseminating the sustainable mining sector culture in Turkey, sectoral representatives from 13 different categories were presented awards.

In the meeting, to which the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez connected via video call, Mithat Cansız, The Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, İsmail Gülle, the President of Tim, Aydın Dinçer, the President of İMİB and Dr. Dirk Matten Toronto York University and many sector representatives were among the participants.

Dincer: We Need Incentives for Production

IMIB President Aydin Dinçer, during his opening speech said: “In 2018, we reached 4.5 billion dollars value in exports. We are working to serve in all the fields that human being needs service with our “mineral for people” motto. With the cooperation of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, we carry out studies on the importance of mining as well as the financial structure and sustainable mining. We are well aware of the importance of production for export as the necessity of incentives for production. We have to work hard in 2019 and the following years in order to reach the targets of 2023. On the other hand, we advocate the necessity of creating the mining law together with the sector. Quarries are as much important as the industrial organizations for Turkey’s economy. For this reason, investments in sustainable mining should be realized and state incentives should be increased accordingly.”

“We have removed the bureaucratic processes“

The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Fatih Dönmez, who connected to the organization through a video call, stated that they eliminated the bureaucratic processes that caused the deceleration of operations in the mining sector. He said: “Our e-Mineral project would be opened to the use of the sector with all its features. This e-mineral portal will enable the users to complete all the procedures online. With the National Mining Resource and Reserve Reporting Commission (UMREK) established in 2017, it is possible to make reporting in mines with a valid code. This development would help the mineral sector in financing. 8 thousand license fields were audited in 2018 for “safe mining”. The number of audited mineral sites will be increased to 14 thousand until 2023.”

“We contribute to the development of the sector“

Mithat Cansız, the Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, stated that 75 percent of the works and transactions carried out with the approval of the General Manager were transferred to the sub-units and a significant improvement was achieved in terms of the speed of services. Cansız said: “We aim to increase the speed quality and transparency of services and transactions via E-mineral project. More than 700 works and transactions related to the licensing law will be transferred to electronic media and 95 percent of the software work is completed. The mineral sites, which did not get any bid although they were opened to tender fort he first time, were made open to the application and the obligation for EIA report for the searching activities on these fields were removed.”

2018 was an important year

TIM President İsmail Gülle said that production and exporting are the most valuable factors for a country and stated that the sector had a successful year in terms of exports in 2018. Gülle further stated that they will be working for the sector in full capacity in 2019 and walking towards the  2023 goals with confidence.

Two awards for the natural stone sector

In the Mining Sector Award Ceremony, 38 companies in 13 different categories were presented awards. From the natural stone sector, Alimoğlu Marble won a prize in the “Security” category, while Silkar Mining received “The company employing the highest number of women” award.

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