Turkey's cement and steel maker stocks climb on reconstruction hopes

Bera Holding AS

20/02/2023 08:43

GDANSK, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Shares in Turkey's big cement
and steel producers climbed on Monday at the top of Turkey's
main BIST-100 index  .XU100 , advancing almost 10%, on
expectations of increasing construction works after recent
devastating earthquakes.
    Turkey stepped up work to clear rubble from collapsed
buildings on Monday, as rescue work wound down two weeks after
major earthquakes killed more than 46,000 people in southern
Turkey and northwest Syria. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N35014Y
    Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD)
said that nearly 13,000 excavators, cranes, trucks and other
industrial vehicles had been sent to the quake zone.
    Days after Turkey's worst earthquake in modern history
rocked the country, Erdogan vowed that the state would complete
housing reconstruction within a year and said the government was
preparing a programme to "make the country stand up again".
    Direct costs from the destruction of physical structures in
Turkey from the devastating earthquake on Feb. 6 could amount to
2.5% of growth domestic product, or $25 billion, JPMorgan said
on Thursday. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N34V2AN
    "The construction works planned to rebuild after devastating
earthquakes supports sectors such as cement, iron and steel,"
said Serdar Pazi, research director at Trive Yatirim.
    Strategist Tunc Satıroglu said that investors' expectation
for a rise in construction activities after the earthquake
supported the steel and construction sectors.
    Manufacturer and vendor of cement and clinker Oyak Cimento
was the top performer, rising 9.96%.
    Shares of steel producer Iskenderun Demir (Isdemir)
 ISDMR.IS  rose 9.95%, while Bera Holding  BERA.IS  which owns
construction units, increased 9.91%.
    Bursa Cımento  BUCIM.IS  climbed 9.69%.
 (Reporting by Canan Sevgili
Editing by Bernadette Baum)
 ((canan.sevgili@thomsonreuters.com;))