Make planes not tanks, PM tells steel company

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

Hema Industries, a Hattat Holding steel company, exports 70 percent of its production to China, India and western markets. Its produce is also used in defense.

Hattat Holding’s new Hema steel plant should produce planes, rather than tanks, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the plant’s opening on April 15.

At the opening, Hattat Holding’s Executive Board Director İbrahim Hattat told Prime Minister Erdoğan via live feed that his company was interested in the production of the power pack systems for the national tank project.

Erdoğan responded: “I don’t want you to produce tanks. I want you to focus on planes.” The opening was also attended by Turkish National Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz,

Steel exports
The new steel plant has a 120,000 ton per year steel production capacity. Hema Industries exports over 70 percent of its production to China, India, Europe and America.

It produces steel for use in the agriculture, automotive and heavy machine industries, as well as the defense sector. Hema Industries employs 525 employees.