25 years – 100,000s of tonnes
Kita Logistics is celebrating an anniversary, with CEO Emre Eldener busy driving forward the development of the Turkish logistics company. The firm plans to grow again in the project cargo logistics segment this year, having suffered a bit of a slowdown in 2019.
When the ITJ reached Emre Eldener on the phone recently, he was a bit hassled. Turkish Airlines had just announced that it was suspending flights to four destinations in China, due to the ‘Wuhan coronavirus’. The Kita Logistics chief executive officer was thus called on to reschedule planned cargo deliveries.
This is not the first demanding situation for the Turkish logistics company; it will be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2020, after all. It was founded in Izmir in 1995 by Ercan Ataman and has since developed into a logistics company with a broad range of activities.
Heavily involved in project logistics
«We always try to find the best solution from amongst our wide range of services for our customers,” says Eldener, who knows the industry inside out – he is also the president of the Turkish freight forwarders’ association Utikad.
Of the nigh-on 2 million t of freight that Kita Logistics transports every year, around 400,000 t are accounted for by project logistics activities. The Istanbul-based company is particularly active in the energy sector in this segment. “Turkey has invested a lot in power plants in recent years, which has resulted in interesting orders for the project logistics sector,” says Eldener. Many gas-fired power plants in Turkey have reached the end of their service life, creating additional opportunities for Kita Logistics.
Turbines and other components are regularly transported to Africa too, where they are reused. Kita Logistics organised such a transport early in February, when a gas turbine was transported by air. Kita Logistics has long ceased to be active only in Turkey.
Women’s power in Kazakhstan
In project logistics, Emre Eldener’s team carries out transports in many other countries, and has branches in Germany, Russia and Kazakhstan.
The latter has one rather unusual characteristic for the logistics industry – only women work in the Almaty office. “The ladies in Kazakhstan do a great job,” says Eldener. Kita’s CEO has ascertained a great potential in this huge Central Asian country. “At the moment we manage a great number of projects in the mining sector in Kazakhstan, as well as handling rail transport services from China. In the medium term we also hope for orders in the energy sector.”
The oil and gas business has always represented an important field of activity for Kita. The company often brought its expertise to bear in northern Iraq. However, this area is not easy at the moment, says Eldener. “The low price of oil is inhibiting investment.”
Power stations to Africa
2019 was not as good for project logistics as 2018. Now Eldener is hoping for a positive trend this year. It would also be helpful for the company if Turkey continues to invest in its infrastructure. Underground and local trains would be one good example, according to Eldener.
Project specialists are also needed in tunnel construction, to bring gigantic tunnel-boring machines to construction sites. Companies such as Kita Logistics are then in demand again when trains and wagons are delivered. So the prospects are good that Kita Logistics will be able to carry out many more demanding projects before its next major anniversary.
