Turkish compounder Epsan Plastik San. Tic. A.S. is expanding with a second office in Spain, and showing new grades of electric and heat conductive polymers.
The Bursa, Turkey-based firm is opening an office in Barcelona, after last year opening its second factory, an $8 million investment, and in 2014 setting up a German office. They are all part of a push more into global markets.
“The new office shows our commitment to grow our business in Europe with the automotive and E&E industries with direct communication, technical support and sales,” says Arda Efe, Epsan's global sales manager.
The Barcelona office will be led by Rafael Sanz, who the company described as a veteran of the Spanish polymer market.
The company said it has also been investing in a larger distribution and sales network. In 2014 it also reached agreement with large German chemicals supplier Brenntag GmbH to distribute Epsan's nylon 6 and nylon 6/6 compounds.
“I see the market more accepting of us now than a few years ago,” said Business Development Manager Arda Efe. “The brand is getting out there.”
Automotive is one of the company's main markets, with Bursa being a center of car manufacturing in Turkey, Efe said.
Epsan is also trying to branch out into other markets, including supplying material for the high-temperature nylon market and the eyeglass frames market, he said.
“We want to market ourselves in more demanding application,” he said.
The new facility will add two more compounding lines, from German supplier Coperion GmbH, boosting its total capacity to 35,000 metric tons a year. The company has a total of seven extrusion lines.
“The new factory is very high tech, very automated,” he said.
Most of the company's exports are to Europe, with about half of its business split between domestic Turkish industry and exports, he said.
Efe said Turkish companies in the past competed more on the price/performance ratio but he sees the industry “moving towards solutions, lightweight compounds, acoustic compounds and other higher-tech offerings.
“The basic strategy of the company is to place ourselves as a European company in the short term and with future projects to position ourselves as global company,” he said.