Arkel Becomes First Elevator Company on TET 2020 Honor List

The Electrical and Electronics Exporters’ Association (TET) has announced the electrical and electronics companies in Turkey that have reached the highest export volumes in 2020, and noted that Arkel, a company from elevator industry, was placed on the list of the top 100 companies.

Arkel, a leading electronics manufacturer of the elevator industry, was listed at 85th among companies, posting an annual export volume of more than US$10 million. Founded in 1998 and starting its operations with the manufacture of elevator controller cards, Arkel currently manufactures and exports elevator controller cards, control panels, emergency systems, revision and alarm sets, variable voltage, variable frequency drivers and integrated elevator control units.

In order to become a global player in elevator industry, Arkel’s majority shares were sold to Mediterra Capital, a local private equity fund, in December 2016. The company’s shareholding structure was reshaped by Melih Küçükçalık, an Arkel founding partner, and during the restructuring process, Arkel maintained its growth by moving to a new building with an indoor area of 11,000 m3 in July 2017.

Arkel CEO Cenk Ceylan praised the company’s entry on the TET Honors List, adding:

 “Our company presses ahead with its globalization vision, which started in the early 2000s, with international sales and have seen an increase every year. Within this frame, we are proud of being included in the Electrical and Electronics Industry Top 100 Exporter Companies report prepared by TET. We take place in this list with our direct export volume; however, we also know that an important part of our local volume is included in indirect export through valuable Turkish elevator companies that export complete elevators and components. This is also a source of motivation for us. As of today, we export our products to 65 countries and, in some countries, Arkel has been one of the most critical suppliers of the industry, as it is in Turkey. Our country is cited as an example of being transformed into a global country, founded in Turkey and developing original products and systems with 100% domestic R&D and production possibilities.  Our aim is to maintain our success in the coming years through expanding our global investments and structuring.”       

The White Goods Industry Leads in Electrical and Electronics Exports

The 2020 Export volume of the electrical and electronics industry, which is determined as one of the five strategic industries by the Ministry of Commerce, has been valued at US$11.27 billion. While Turkey’s total export volume decreased by 6.3 percent, electrical and electronic products performed over the Turkey average, offering a contribution of 6.5% to our country’s 2020 total export volume with shrinkage of 1.6%.

In 2020, White Goods was the leading sub-sector, with an export volume of US$3.628 billion. During the same period,  electronic product groups realized an export volume of US$2.88 billion, with electricity, electricity production and distribution equipment realizing an export volume of about US$2.9 billion. The cable product group realized an export volume of US$1.9 billion.

Greatest Export Volume with U.K.

In the electrical and electronics products industry, the greatest export volume and the greatest foreign trade surplus was realized with the U.K. This was enabled by a Free Trade Agreement signed between two countries recently that ensures continuous export.  Moreover, the agreement, which became valid as of January 1, 2021, after Brexit, is in line with the expectations of the industry and promoted exports.