Dear Stakeholders,
We began the year 2023 with an unimaginable earthquake disaster that will never be forgotten throughout history. We have provided support to the earthquake region, using every means available in cooperation with public institutions and non-governmental organizations since the first day of the earthquakes that have shaken our country to the core and we will continue to provide our support.
In 2023, our nation also celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye with great pride. This honorable day in history, following our celebration of the 50th foundation anniversary of our Group, was indeed a very special occasion for us. Today, following a half-century steady growth, we contribute to sustainable development in 6 different business sectors across 5 different countries with over 15 companies, more than 20 production plants, and 5,000 employees as our workforce.
The health crisis, wars, and geopolitical tensions encountered in recent years on a global scale have caused stagnation of global economic growth, reduction in trade volume, fluctuations in energy and commodity markets, inflation, and increase in uncertainties. Despite these extraordinary developments, we achieved our growth targets. In 2023, our sales revenues increased by 36% compared to the previous year. With over $3 billion exports to over 100 countries, Kibar Dış Ticaret ranked 4th among the top exporters of Türkiye and emerged as the export champion in the ferrous and non-ferrous metals sector.
The key element of our success is our great workforce consisting of 5,000 employees, who are able to overcome any challenges by demonstrating unmatched effort and devotion, capable of adapting to changing conditions, do not miss out on any opportunities by eliminating risks, and have adopted our sustainability approach. We would like to express our gratitude to each and every one of our co-workers for their valuable contributions.
We carry out all our operations in line with our sustainability principles, which we developed with reference to the United Nations Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets. These principles, together with economic, social, and environmental aspects, represent our commitment to sustainable growth and the achievement of our sustainability targets. Within the framework of “Kibar Group 2025 Sustainability Strategy,” which was developed based on these principles and published in 2020, we are glad that we have already achieved the majority of our 2025 Goals. Every year, we continue to disclose to the public our progress in the 36 targets, which are monitored by 92 performance indicators in a transparent manner.
We make investments in renewable energy for a sustainable energy future. We have achieved net-zero emissions as of 2021 for Scope 2 emissions resulting from electricity consumption at Assan Alüminyum, which is one of our energy-intensive companies. In 2023, we secured a loan of $90 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for investments intended for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With this loan, Assan Alüminyum became the first company to receive 100% climate-labeled green loan support in its business sector.
In 2023, Assan Alüminyum and İspak began reporting within the scope of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Assan Alüminyum became the first company to participate in the CDP platform in our country’s aluminum sector.
During the last four years, we have implemented nearly 100 new projects to contribute to taking action against climate change as well as contributing to the circular economy.
With our investment in the Waste Water Recovery Plant in Asım Kibar Organized Industrial Zone, we ensure the recovery of nearly 500,000 m3 of water on a yearly basis.
We increased the quantity of raw materials reused after recycling by 58% within the last seven years and increased the quantity of recycled waste to 99%.
In collaboration with Kocaeli University within the scope of our strategy to protect biodiversity, we have restored the natural habitats of the endangered plant species “Blue Star” and “Sand Lily” in the ecosystem. In 2023, we implemented a new project under the same collaboration. We ensured the reproduction of the endangered plant species “Verbascum bugilifolium” by using biotechnological methods.
We introduce various activities under ‘‘WE Are Equal’’ to support women’s increased participation in the business world and their empowerment. As of 2023, we began recording the targets for increasing women’s employment into the performance metrics of our managers and recruitment teams. As a result of our gender equality policies as a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), we have increased the number of female employees by 54% and the number of female senior executives by 42%. In 2023, we received the Equal Opportunities Model (FEM) certificate granted by the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye (KAGIDER).
Through “Kibar Volunteers” platform, we have implemented nearly 100 projects focusing on education and children with over 500 volunteers for more than 5 years. We expanded our area of influence by adding five more regions in 2023.
In 2023, we implemented “Kibar Holding Supplier Sustainability Program/K-STAR,” which is considered to be the world’s first program in terms of its scope of inclusion. We transformed our broad ecosystem, consisting of over 5,000 suppliers of large-scale businesses and SMEs as well as customers from over 100 countries, into our business partners in sustainability. With training programs designed specifically for all our stakeholders, we have expanded our area of influence.
We introduced “Kibar Holding Sustainability Information Management System” project in order to implement a system in which data are collected, analyzed, inquired, and reported in a digital environment within internationally recognized sustainability standards and integrated into decision-making processes.
We also continue our internal communication and awareness activities through “Kibar Group Sustainability Platform,” which was developed for the purpose of improving the level of awareness of our employees on sustainability.
We are happy to share our 11th sustainability report with you, wherein we present our economic, environmental, and social performance in line with our transparency and accountability principles.
We issue our reports in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), which is one of the most recognized standards for assessing corporate sustainability performance and share our performance with all our stakeholders in a transparent manner.
We are committed to carrying out continuous improvement processes to understand and manage all aspects of the impacts of our activities by following globally recognized frameworks and standards in sustainability. While disclosing our contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Kibar Holding Sustainability Report of 2023, we continue to refer to a great number of international standards, including the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), the World Economic Forum Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics, and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
We have extended the scope of transparency in addition to accountability in corporate sustainability reporting at the highest standards. We further allow information on non-financial aspects of our activities to undergo independent audits. Since 2020, we have allowed 80 environmental, social, and governance data to be validated by independent audits within the framework of the International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE 3000) and the Assurance Engagements on Greenhouse Gas Statements (ISAE 3410).
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to all our esteemed colleagues, customers, suppliers, business partners, and all stakeholders supporting us in our sustainability journey for their valuable contributions.
Haluk Kayabaşı
CEO