Can we get brief information about your company and your products?

Divapan Entegre is one of the well-established industrial organizations in the sector. We produce MDF and MDFLAM. We have approximately 200.000 mt3 annual production volume in 35.000 m2 closed area in 100.000 m2 open areaDivapan Entegre; is one of the well-established industrial organizations in its sector. We produce MDF and MDFLAM. We have approximately 200.000 mt3 annual production volume in 35.000 m2 closed area in 100.000 m2 open area.

We are an industrial organization that pioneers many innovations in its sector.  We are the only company that has received an award in the sector, especially in terms of using energy efficiently, and we continue our efforts in this direction. We are able to deliver our products all over Turkey through our dealers. We attach importance to exports and try to increase market diversity. We have around 30 effective colors and patterns.

We continue to feel the effects of the pandemic in all depth at every point of life. How do you manage this process as a company?

In this process, we obtained the “COVID-19 Safe Production Certificate” issued by TSE. We were the first company in our sector to receive this certificate. This document is an indication of the importance we attach to our employees, dealers and other business partners. With this certificate, DİVAPAN has once again proved that it is a reliable brand.

In the markets, which started to normalize as of June, we have achieved a volume above our targets so far. In terms of monitoring our dealers, we have taken a number of measures to ease their purchasing operations. 

We have endeavored to contribute to their recovery through both discounts and payment facilities. Thanks to these measures, we will maintain the volume and momentum we have achieved until the end of 2020.

I would also like to emphasize that human health is first and foremost important. In this context, we have implemented hygiene standards at the highest level in our factory, considering the health of all our stakeholders who are in physical interaction with our factory, especially our employees.

How is 2020 going for your company? What is the new normal?

As 2020 started, we were very excited and our expectations were also very high. We had set our goals and made our action plans accordingly. We had made a very fast start in our sector, which generally slowed down in the winter months. With the declaration of the pandemic, serious economic difficulties started in our country as well as all over the world. All manufacturing companies were affected by this. However, as I have just said, since we entered 2020 by preparing very well, we survived this process with the least negativity. During the 3-month period, production never stopped in our factory, we did not dismiss any of our personnel, and by being in constant contact with our dealers, we managed to overcome this process together with the least damage.

What kind of positive and negative changes do you think the pandemic process and its aftermath will create in the wood-based panel, furniture sub-industry and furniture industry? Will we be able to gain an advantage in the global market with the programs implemented by the government?

The pandemic is not only Turkey's problem. Therefore, we can feel an economic contraction that affects the whole world. Despite all this, I think that our industry has managed the process with minimal damage. We can understand from our meetings with industry representatives from time to time that there are more problems on the manufacturing side, that is, on the furniture side.

Could you evaluate the Turkish wood-based panel, furniture sub-industry, furniture sector and the position of our company since the last 10 years? What are your expectations and thoughts about the future of the sector?

These sectors are intertwined with each other, like inseparable parts. Therefore, if one sector is bad, it will negatively affect the others. Furniture and particle and fiberboard producers are important players both in terms of domestic sales and exports. With the end of the pandemic, I think that we will continue production more strongly with the positive indicators that will emerge in the world. In addition, projected and/or unfinished investments will continue rapidly.

Divapan is one of the well-established industrial organizations in its sector. We are an industrial organization that pioneered many innovations in its sector. We are the only company in the sector that has received an award for using energy efficiently and we continue our efforts in this direction. We are looking forward to realizing some of the investments we are considering with the end of the pandemic.

What are your expectations from the government as a sector in this period? What kind of support is needed?

We believe that there will be no positive developments as long as the pandemic continues. Even if we manage this process very well as Turkey, especially the contraction of export channels (in all sectors) will negatively affect the general economy. As a sector, we already rank first in Europe and second in the world in the production of particleboard and fiberboard. The programs implemented and measures taken by the government are generally in the direction of the continuity of our economy in this troubled period.

In order to be more competitive globally, I think we need to overcome some of our sectoral problems that we have been voicing for a long time. 
We have industrial organizations that produce particle and fiberboard with advanced technology from world standards. The insufficiency of forest resources and the high prices of wood raw materials are the most important obstacles to increasing our export figures. In addition, with the increasing exchange rates, there have been serious increases in important items such as glue and paper that we use in production. In this process, as a sector, we faced a situation such as not being able to reflect these increasing costs to sales prices. I hope that we can become a more competitive sector with the additional measures to be taken by our government after the pandemic.