The World Bank estimated the cost of the total damage in Syria’s 14 largest cities and sectors at $11.4 billion. dollars
Shares in Turkish construction companies and cement rose today, boosted by expectations that they will benefit from reconstruction in Syria after the ouster of the Assad regime.
Turkey will work to rebuild Syria after the ouster of Assad and help the Syrian migrants it hosts return home safely, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said today. “With the fall of the Assad regime, the reconstruction of Syria is moving forward,” said Yakup Tokhtamis of brokerage firm Trive Yatirim. Yusuf Dogan, head of global market research at Info Yatırım, said there will be great opportunities for Turkish companies in the construction industry and those in cement and steel.
Turkey’s geographical proximity and existing trade relations give the country’s companies an advantage in Syria’s reconstruction process, Dogan added. In a report published in February 2023, the World Bank estimated that the cost of the total damage in Syria’s 14 largest cities and sectors amounted to 11.4 billion. dollars since the start of the civil war in 2011.
Analysts highlight the difficulty in assessing Syria’s reconstruction needs due to the unknown scale of the devastation and the uncertain political future. In addition, the demand for reconstruction will depend on how many refugees who left the country return. Shares in Turkey’s biggest construction company Enka Insaat rose about 4.6 percent. Shares of cement companies Bursa Cimento, Oyak Cimento, Afyon Cimento, Akcansa, Limak Dogu Anadolu Cimento jumped between 8% and 10%.
Bursa Cimento shares rose to their highest level since May 2023, while Oyak Cimento shares hit their highest level since September 2023. Shares of steelmaker Iskenderun Demir Celik rose nearly 10 percent, and that of Emlak Konut, a of Turkey’s largest property developers, gained 2%. Turkey’s index, which includes cement companies, rose 7.79 percent to its highest level since September 2023, while the index of construction companies rose 3.41 percent to its highest level ever.
Serhat Baskurt of ALB Yatırım brokerage said that Limak Dogu Anadolu Cimento and Bursa Cimento are in one of the best positions. Limak Dogu Anadolu Cimento, with a production capacity of 3.6 million tons, could benefit from new investments or higher clinker production, Baskurt said, also pointing to Bursa Cimento’s 1.4 million tons of clinker production capacity.
