Turkish group to set up R&D and production site in Tuscany
Turkish leather and finished leather products manufacturer Desa Deri has announced that it will set up a new research and development and production facility in Tuscany. It has leased a building in Poppi in the province of Arezzo, 50 kilometres east of Florence.
Desa Deri runs its own tannery in Çorlu, a factory in the Istanbul region for leather garments and bags and another bag factory in Düzce.
Chief executive, Burak Çelet, told Turkish news media that this move would allow the company to be closer to many of its most valued clients and respond more quickly to their needs, especially in product development.
He said Desa had been exporting to Italy for about 35 years, and that the time had come to establish a manufacturing presence there. He explained that the company’s aim is to finalise all the formalities quickly and begin fitting out the new facility in the last quarter of 2022.
But Mr Çelet said continuing to ship leather exports from Turkey would continue to be of great importance to the company too. He suggested that, in terms of export revenues per volume, the average for Turkish exporters is $1.20 per kilo of product exported. When it comes to the leather industry, the value increases to $116 per kilo of product.
He said leather-sector exporters in Turkey were examining ways not just of continuing this, but of improving it further.
Image shows Burak Çelet explaining Desa Deri’s decision to invest in a new facility in Italy to media in Istanbul in August.
