28 January/February 2014
‘Now is the time to make tracks,’ says Meh-met Cetin of Tekeli Group, the Turkish
metal recycler which planted its foot firmly on
German soil in mid-December with the take-
over of a scrap yard previously run by Alba
Group subsidiary Interseroh.
The facility is located in the northern German
city of Bremen. ‘Thanks to the yard being close
to the ports of Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven,
we can easily export scrap to Turkey,’ the com-
pany’s international trade manager points out.
The facility’s capacity currently stands at 6500
tonnes per month but ‘that figure will be
increased to 10 000 tonnes by June’, he expects.
Tekeli Group is looking to acquire more scrap
yards in Western Europe. And in order to ben-
efit from the proximity of the major ports of
Rotterdam and Antwerp, the Netherlands and
Belgium as well as other locations in Germany
are regarded as serious options. ‘We are inter-
ested to invest in yards in Europe as long as it is
financially and structurally advantageous for us
to buy,’ Cetin notes. ‘There is no specific location
being considered at the moment because our
new Bremen yard will serve us as a pilot opera-
tion in order to see and evaluate the market.’
Tight market
Unsurprisingly, the substantial demand for
scrap to support Turkey’s fast-growing con-
struction and automotive industries lies behind
the firm’s expansion strategy.
But according to Cetin, there is more to it than
that; he points to the high operational costs with
which large scrap companies in Europe have
been struggling over recent years, forcing them
to sell less efficient yards and concentrate on
better and more profitable areas of the business.
‘At the moment, the scrap market in Europe is
controlled by large groups which initially
C O M P A N Y P R O F I L E By Martijn Reintjes
Turkey’s ever-substantial demand for scrap has boosted expansion at
major metal recycler Tekeli Group. The company marked the end of
2013 with the take-over of a scrap yard in northern Germany, giving
it direct access to Europe’s biggest ferrous recycling market. And
there are more purchases to come in Europe, confirms the group’s
international trade manager Mehmet Cetin.
The 6500 tonnes plant in Bremen also handles car wrecks
No-nonsense
Tekeli Group embarking
on European adventure Tekeli’s latest acquisition in Bremen, Germany: a scrap yard previously run by Alba Group subsidiary Interseroh.
RI-1-2014-Tekeli.indd 28 29-01-14 15:11
