Turkey-based Orta Anadolu Ticaret, a long-standing name among Turkey’s textile and denim producers, ceased all manufacturing at its Kayseri site on October 12.
Established in 1953, the firm has been dismantled at a time when the sector is wrestling with spiralling costs and intensifying worldwide rivalry.
Orta Anadolu rose to become one of the foremost denim suppliers to international labels from 1986, and for decades its fabrics went into garments sold by major global apparel brands like Levi’s, Lee, Mavi, and Calvin Klein.
Management attributes the shutdown to a worldwide downturn that has left the existing business model untenable, citing weaker demand overseas, steeply higher borrowing and running costs, and tougher conditions among international rivals.
The loss of this mill goes well beyond one factory gate. It also prompts hard questions over how far Türkiye’s denim sector can still compete on the world stage.
For many years Orta Anadolu supplied some of the best-known names in denim, and the sector widely looked to it as a yardstick for others. It earned its reputation through investment in sustainability, pioneering fabric development and a production model built around high added value.
From its base in Kayseri, the company did much to lift Türkiye’s standing overseas, above all in premium denim.
Across the last two years, trade voices have warned time and again that Turkish producers are feeling the squeeze from weakening European demand, steep energy and labour bills, and mounting competition from the Far East and North Africa.
Orta Anadolu’s decision is now viewed as among the starkest signs yet that these forces are biting directly into even the sector’s best-established, high-value operators.
Several hundred employees, many of them with long service at the plant, saw their contracts formally ended on the same date, according to a statement from management.
Statutory entitlements, covering severance, notice pay and wages for untaken annual leave, will be paid up front and in one instalment, with funds reaching staff bank accounts no later than November 7.
Beyond what the law requires, the company says it is putting together a bespoke welfare scheme for workers and their dependants.
Expected to combine cash and in-kind help, its contents and timing of distribution are due to be confirmed shortly.
Image courtesy: Orta Anadolu
