Carpet business which has an important position in our cultural identity is one of the strongest sectors that Turkey has. Turkish carpet business showing an important growth year by year, according to the data of Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters’ Associations (ITKIB), 2 billion 354 million export was carried out with 7,2% increase compared to the last year. Turkish carpet business came to a position which defines the carpet trends by increasing its market share with its product quality and innovation culture.
At the carpet sector which has two main groups as both handmade and machine- made carpet whose production techniques, consumer profiles, investment tendencies, costs, intended use, market shares and capital densities are different from each other, Turkey is at the position of having the right of comment at machine- made carpet business.
Machine- Made Carpet
In our day in which about 90% of total carpet market in Turkey is composed with machine- made carpets, according to the data of The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), machine- made carpet production capacity in Turkey is over 200 million square meter. While the large majority of machine- made carper production in Turkey is carried out in Gaziantep; Kayseri and Istanbul are following Gaziantep. And while the most machine- made carpet production is carried out in United Stated of America; Belgium, China, Pakistan and India follow this.
Our machine- made carpet export are among the sectors which has been showing increase for a long years. While the majority of carpet export in Turkey is carried out for Middle East with 29,3%, 23,4% of export is carried out for Union European countries, 16,3% of export is carried out for Africa, 12,4% of export is carried out for America , 11,7% of export for Asian countries and 7,6%mof export is carried out for Australia.
Hand- made Carpet
Turkey which is ranked behind Iran, China, Pakistan, Nepal and Tibet at hand- made production and export subject, is at the lower positions due to the deficient support by the government and the distribution and marketing channels are especially in the hand of Iran and Pakistan and due to the fact that they don’t sell out of their country and the low labour costs. In recent years, thanks to the micro credits given for developing of handicrafts, weaving looms for hand- made carpet has started to increase.
Innovative Carpet Sector
The successful graphics of machine- made carpet is based on reflecting of innovation process of the carpet business sector to the production process preeminently. Rapid change of carpet trends, usage of new Technologies, fronting with different materials as raw material for carpet, service campaigns after new sales and attractive marketing strategies are confronting us as the reflection of innovation at carpet sector.
Innovation which is composed with technical, economic and social processes, has an important role at not only the growth of the companies which use it, but also at developing of the sector and at the increasing of the importance Turkey in the world’s carpet market. Innovative solutions such as usage of new print technologies on carpet, combining of traditional arts with carpet weaving, carrying into actual of new marketing methods and starting of carpet production with demand- driven of developing and changing market by using innovative materials, carried Turkish carpet business sector to the point where it is now.
According to the researches made by the subject, it is shown that the consumer sense is mainly oriented to the different and the new products. Even they don’t need it, when they meet with a different and unordinary solution, they tend towards that product. The best example of this; the application of the trends like hygiene on the carpet. Within this subject, many innovative project within the projects of ‘ Innovation Valley Gaziantep’ in 2006 and ‘ Gaziantep Attempt at R& D’ in 2008 was started by Gaziantep Chamber of Industry, were made actual by Turkish carpet business sector.
