The heart of the Kardemir Railway

Kardemir railway's lifeblood: Turkey's first integrated iron and steel mills and ore made of long engaged in the production-based organization with a single Kardemir, which aims to offer the service in 2016 experiencing the thrill of Railway Wheel Factory. Kardemir until the achievement of the vision and mission into one of the industrial heartland of Turkey General Manager Fadil Demirel, we talked about everything; “Our company has adopted making Karabük the production center of railway equipment as the most basic strategy,” he says.

Since the establishment of numerous industrial plants in the design, manufacturing and assembly Kardemir perform "in Turkey Author Factories Factory" is known as. It is also very appropriate to say that Kardemir is a school for many companies. In addition to this, the company, which gives utmost importance to social responsibility projects, continues to bring young people who are educated and innovative in the future to sectors with the investments of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences and the Iron and Steel Institute and Research and Development Center. Besides all the firsts it brings to the sector, Kardemir is the only rail manufacturer of our country. Kardemir, who has been among the leading actors in the projects of rising rail systems recently, is experiencing the excitement of the Railway Wheel Factory. General Manager of Kardemir Fadıl Demirel; Or The investment period is for 3 year and the investment is completed at the end of the first half of 2016 and the first product is targeted at the beginning of the second half of 2016. “
We want to learn from you about the place in Turkey's iron and steel sector of the economy. Iron and steel is one of the biggest exporters and there are many iron and steel companies among the biggest companies of our country.

The Turkish iron and steel industry is one of the largest export sectors of our country. Turkey's total steel exports performed billion in the year 2012 17 152 151,8 and Turkey have reached a million billion dollars by performing xnumx's percent of total exports amounting sector has become the second largest exporter after the automotive industry. Considering the indirect iron and steel products within the machinery industry, ship and yacht and automotive industry, the share of iron steel in our exports indirectly reaches 11,2. This is a sign that our country is an iron and steel country.

Turkey's largest 500 provider rankings again taking the lead in the iron and steel sector firms; 50 is the first company in 13. Turkey, with iron and steel production in the world is an ambitious position. Our country, the world's largest steel producer countries ranking 8. is located in.

Can you give us information about Kardemir products and sectors?

As you know, Kardemir is the country's only rail manufacturer. There are no other rail manufacturers than Kardemir in our country and in the region including the 72 meter high-speed train tracks. In addition, Kardemir is the only company in our country to produce structural steel up to a width of 750 millimeters. Currently offering services to the sector with structural steel type on 40, Kardemir also produces peak, bloom, billet, ribbed construction steel, angle iron, mines, coke and coke by-products and provides basic input to the construction, mining, transportation and industrial sectors.

Could you tell us briefly about Kardemir's investments in the region and the country's economy that gave a great impetus?
Our company, "producing products not produced in Turkey to produce at least 3 million tons of steel with global competitiveness" has embraced the vision. In this way, our company continues its investments in the direction of achieving this goal. In this context, in the first half of 2011, the new Sinter Factory and 1 Blast Furnace, the new Lime Plant in 2012, and the New Continuous Casting Plant in the beginning of 2013 were commissioned. In addition, the new coke plant with 50 kiln was completed and production started with the new power plant 70 MW last month. On the other hand, the works for increasing the production capacity of the steel mill, new blast furnace and new rod (thick round) and coil rolling mills and the installation of rail hardening plant at Ray Profil Rolling Mill are continuing rapidly. Targeted capacities will be captured with the specified investment projects.

The new Rod and Coil Rolling Mill will have a production capacity of 700 thousand tons / year and will mainly address the automotive and machinery manufacturing industry. At the facility, high value added products which are not produced in our country and which are procured from abroad will be produced. The projected investment period is 2,5 years. The investment is planned to be completed by the end of 2015. Mushroom hardened rails, which are supplied by our country and currently supplied by import, can be produced with Ray Hardening Plant which is intended to produce mushroom hardened rails. Our company also makes important investments in the field of energy. The Power Plant with 50 MW capacity and the Hydroelectric Power Plant with 22,5 MW capacity are the major investments in the field of energy.

50 MW Power Plant, Blast Furnaces, Coke Batteries and Coke Gas from the plant as a by-product of the coke gas, blast furnace gas and steelhouse converters using gas after the use of the increasing amount of electricity is produced. Since it allows the use of by-product waste gases, it also carries an important environmental investment. HEPP Project, our subsidiary ENBATI A.Ş. It is maintained by. The investment is planned to be completed within 2014. With these investments, our company produces all the electricity it needs by its own means and will sell more.

The rail system has become one of Turkey's main agenda. How do you evaluate the existing potential of rail systems in the world and in our country?

When the railway infrastructure of our country is examined, it is seen that no significant investment has been made until the last years and the investments made in the first years of the Republic were satisfied. For this reason, a significant imbalance has occurred in the transportation sector in our country in the intervening years, unlike the developed countries, road transportation has gained weight and railway transportation has been left behind.

To overcome this imbalance in the transportation sector and to increase the share of rail transport in the sector has been adopted as a state policy and in recent years significant investments have been made in the railway transportation sector.

In the yol Transportation Master Plan bil prepared by the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, rail transport was considered to be an important issue and it was mentioned that the imbalance in the transportation system was largely relieved by the fact that the demand had been attracted to the railway. In the Transportation Master Plan, it is aimed to increase the share of the railway which is expected to be the most important transportation method of the future in total transportation and thus to establish a balanced and healthy transportation system. In this respect, TCDD has set its strategic targets. Some of these projects, which are planned to be realized until 2023, are as follows: High speed train set and expansion of locomotive vehicle park, expansion of freight and passenger car vehicle park, renewal of existing lines, 10 thousand kilometers high speed train line, 4 thousand kilometers new conventional railway line, Completion of the Marmaray Project by completing the annual 700 million passengers, completion of the EgeRay Project, completion of the CapitalRay Project, creation of logistic centers, 10 of rail share in passenger transport, upgrade to 15 in freight transport, 200 million tons / year of cargo transportation to increase the share of private sector in the railway operation to% 50, to produce high speed train in our country, to increase the share of private sector in the production and maintenance of towing and towing vehicles.
When the targets determined by TCDD are analyzed, it is observed that investments in the railway sector will continue to increase.

Another important development regarding the railway transportation is the Resmi Liberalization of Railway Transportation ile law, which was published in the Official Gazette on 01.05.2013. With this law, private companies will be able to build their own railway infrastructure and operate on the national railway network. The most important goal of liberalization is to increase the share of railways in freight transport.
TCDD's plans for rail transport and the liberalization of railways and the introduction of private sector by rail transport will show that the importance of railway transportation will increase. In parallel with the increase in railway transportation, the locomotives, wagons and other railway transportation vehicle parks of both TCDD and private sector will increase significantly. In this respect, the railway transportation sector in our country is expected to be a growing market.

When was the Ray and Profile Rolling Mill in your company established? Can we get information about the annual production capacity, export and customer portfolio of the facility?

Rail and Profile Rolling Mill was commissioned in 2007. 450.000 has tons / year capacity. In addition to all types of rail, 72 is the only facility between Turkey and countries in the region that can produce large size profiles up to 750 mm width, angle bars up to 200 mm width and thick and high quality steel of all sizes up to 200 mm diameter. Ray and Profile Mills investment with the Republic of Turkey State Railways (TCDD) needed by our company meet all rail, Syria, Iran, capable of exporting to the world market, especially in countries such as Iraq has become a company.

What is the work on the Railway Caster Factory? When will the plant be completed and when will the production run? What is the current capacity you are planning?

In our country, there is no railway wheel manufacturer and the need is met by imports. Turkey is the net importer of the railway wheel. The rail caster market, which is fully covered by imports, is an important market for our company. Our company, which has the advantage of being an integrated facility, can produce a large part of its steel quality at international standards, including the steel wheel quality. The railway caster is of high quality steel with high added value. The skilled steel market is an important market for Kardemir. The production of the railway wheel, which has a high added value, is in line with the strategic goal of our company's skilled steel production.

The facility constitutes an important pillar of our strategy to produce high value-added products. In the facility to be installed, locomotive wheels will be produced with cargo and passenger car wheels. 200 will be invested in 140 million dollars for the facility that will have a production capacity of one thousand units / year. A contract was signed with a foreign company for the project. The investment period is for 3 year and the investment will be completed at the end of the first half of 2016 and the first product will be purchased at the beginning of the second half of 2016.