The Lenzing Group steps up its activities in Turkey

Istanbul – The Lenzing group, leading in the production of botanic cellulose fibers, set up its first independent sales and marketing office in Istanbul on Wednesday, 19 April 2017. Greater proximity to customers and being present in one of the most important textile markets in the world played a key role in this decision.

“Our goal is to be available to our customers both quickly and directly”, Thomas Obendrauf, CFO of Lenzing AG, explains. “In our new corporate strategy sCore TEN, proximity to our customers is one of the most important elements for sales and marketing. With this in mind being directly available at the site is crucial. And so we are appointing a team of eleven employees in Istanbul”, Obendrauf continues.

“Our office in Istanbul gives us the possibility to interact more extensively with the production sites and the other offices in our group. It will also improve the service we offer our customers”, Vineet Singhal, Senior Vice President AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa), comments. The new office will fall within his regional area of competence.

Showroom open to all customers

The Turkish Team (Team Turkey) of the Lenzing group includes eleven employees who will focus on sales, business development and technical customer service. A showroom featuring the different Lenzing™ branded fibers, the processed products and the final applications for both textiles and nonwoven products is open to all customers and business associates. The latest innovations of the Lenzing group will also be on display here. “Our office should be a meeting-place and among other things somewhere where the multi-faceted Lenzing™ fiber world can be presented”, Jürgen Eizinger, Commercial Director Turkey & MEA and Chairman of Lenzing Elyaf A.S., says. Being close to our customers will allow us to accompany regional innovations and bring new products to the market together with our customers. “Turkey is an important textile processor as well as being an interesting consumer market“, Eizinger elaborates. “To enhance the quality our customers demand, it is important that we guide the processing of our fibers at all phases of the value-added chain”, Niyazi Bahar, Vice Chairman of Lenzing Elyaf A.S. and Hale Saracoglu, responsible for Business Development Turkey, comment.

Turkey – important for Lenzing

The Turkish textile and nonwovens market is particularly important for Lenzing. “We see Turkey as a growth market especially for specialty fibers since for the European Union it is THE country of import for textiles per se. The geographical proximity offers a logistical advantage“, Eizinger says.

Marketing activities intensified

By opening our own office numerous activities can be better planned and carried out on-site. First and foremost the contact with domestic brands and retailers will be intensified to be able to elaborate joint Branding Programs. The goal is also to increase the brand awareness of Lenzing™ fibers in Turkey. Collaboration with specialized associations and institutes and co-operation with universities will be another main focus.