Easier said than done; Sasa company has approximately 750 thousand investors, that is to say, partners. At one point, its market value even surpassed Koç Holding. All hell broke loose in November last year when İbrahim Erdemoğlu, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said, "The value of Sasa shares is very high." The shares lost value and the debates about whether it was a bubble or not continued. Last week, a group of my journalist friends and I saw both Sasa and its owner Erdemoğlu Holding's first-ever Merinos factories onsite. Today, I will first convey my impressions of Sasa.
If I had to summarize Sasa's production center in one word, I could say "impressive." I had the opportunity to visit many factories in Turkey. Sasa, which was constantly modernized after being acquired by Erdemoğlu, has become a gigantic facility integrated from A to Z.
İbrahim Erdemoğlu, Erdemoğlu Holding Chairman of the Board of Directors, summarized what has been done so far as follows:
“In 2015, we bought 51 percent of Sasa for 102 million dollars with a valuation of 200 million dollars. 49 percent of it was open to the public. When investors sold 33 percent of the shares, we owned 84 percent of the company. In Sasa, we continued our production and investments step by step. Our investment until 2021 has reached 1,5 billion dollars. Alongside the investments, we have also renewed technology at every stage in Sasa. We established a PTA facility for 1,7 billion dollars and a POY facility for 800 million dollars. POY facility started operation. The investment in the PTA facility was completed, and production will start once the technical deficiencies are resolved."
IT WILL ADD ANOTHER SASA TO SASA
Sasa's constant investment status is criticized from time to time. Pointing out that the investment they have made in the land since 2015 has reached 4 billion dollars, Erdemoğlu also explained the reason for the investments:
“If we had attempted to continue production with old machines in Sasa, we would have gone bankrupt 10 times by now. We then stopped production on the last remaining old machines. Therefore, despite the new investment, we will produce at 85 percent capacity. With the last investment, we will have added another 75 percent of Sasa to Sasa. In this way, our total production, which is currently 1,1 million tons, will increase to 1,9 million tons as of the 6th month of 2025. If we exclude India and China, we will be the largest polyester producer in the world."
Sasa will not be satisfied with mere capacity increase through new investments. It will also gain a significant cost advantage. Sasa Board Member Güven Kaya summarized this situation as follows: “The cost per ton in PTA was 110 dollars. With new investments, the cost per ton will drop to 30 dollars. We will have the opportunity to produce at the world's lowest cost in Sasa's new facilities.”
All of these are factors that can turn Sasa, which is in an importer position, into an important export player with the impact of its cost advantage. Sasa is now counting the days for the move that will reduce Turkey's current account deficit by 1,5 billion dollars.

IS SASA'S VALUE HIGH?
İBRAHİM Erdemoğlu answered the question of whether they are considering selling Sasa shares as a holding company: "We are not considering increasing Sasa's free float rate."
I reminded him of the statement he made in the second half of November 2022 and asked:
“In those days, you said, 'The value of Sasa shares is very high.' Is the same situation in question now?
His answer was:

“I would tell it if it were high...”
CONDITIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH FOREIGNERS
ERDEMOĞLU Holding Chairman of the Board of Directors İbrahim Erdemoğlu highlighted the fact that they will establish five companies, 100 percent owned by Sasa, for the investment in Yumurtalık and added:
“We are open to offers to give up to 49 percent of shares to foreigners in the affiliates to be established. Our friends are holding preliminary meetings with four foreign companies. I will not step in until the Industrial Zone announcement is made clear. There is an offer from Singapore for the port. Saudi Arabia also made an offer to attract the investment we are planning to make in Yumurtalık to itself. They have some very attractive proposals. It is because, once we complete the investment in Yumurtalık, they will lose the Turkish market. However, we are a family that says 'First our state, our nation.'"

'WE ARE WAITING FOR THE YUMURTALIK LAND'
In addition to its production center in Adana, SASA has also rolled up its sleeves to produce main raw materials in Yumurtalık. İbrahim Erdemoğlu said, “We announced that we planned to invest 3,6 billion dollars to produce the main raw material of Sasa. While we are negotiating with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Energy for the purchase, lease, or allocation of 2,9 million square meters of land belonging to TPAO in Hatay Dörtyol, the area allocated to Çalık Holding for the pipeline in Yumurtalık has expired. 3,5 years ago, Mr. President gave instructions to allocate the land in Yumurtalık to us."
Sasa has expanded its investment plan over time. Erdemoğlu said that they requested an area of ​​11 million square meters for that purpose and continued:
INDUSTRIAL LAND REQUEST
“We purchased the 4,5 million square meter section from the Treasury in the tender held. We collected 2,5 million square meters from citizens, and the land size increased to 6,5 million square meters. We spent around 4 billion TL on the land. Finally, an approval was issued by the Ministry of Agriculture. Currently, the industrial zone declaration is expected for four months from the Presidency and the Ministry of Industry. We don't know why. In the first phase, we will start investing 5,5 billion dollars in 2026. I will go to Gabar this month. If we supply oil from Turkey, it will provide benefits in view of the entire current account deficit of 22 billion dollars."
İbrahim Erdemoğlu said that even if the "Industrial Zone" declaration is issued, they will take a break from investments in 2025 and wait for the completed investments to turn into profit. In other words, Sasa will start its 5,5 billion dollar investment in Yumurtalık in 2026 at the earliest.
PROFIT FROM INVESTMENT TO GO TO INVESTMENT
These investments, which will be 100 percent owned by Sasa, will continue step by step with paraxylene, propane, ethylene production, refinery, and port. Erdemoğlu said, “After completing the 5,5 billion dollar investment and seeing the results, we will start the investment of 10 billion dollars. Our investments in Yumurtalık will continue at three-year intervals. It will amount to 25 billion dollars in total. When our investments in Yumurtalık start, we will be able to extend the range from raw materials and intermediate products obtained from crude oil to the final product of yarn. When our Yumurtalık production investments are made, we will have the chance to stop our country's 22 billion dollar import in this field.
We also asked Erdemoğlu about the source of the investments to be made in Yumurtalık. He answered:
"Just as we invested 4 billion dollars in Sasa, which we bought for 200 million dollars, it will not be very difficult to invest in a refinery of 5,5 billion dollars after getting the profits of those investments."

News Source: Hürriyet News