Along with the developing new technologies in the world, the Turkish elevator industry has also entered into a process of great change and has achieved significant market shares in world trade.

With the inclusion of the EU technical legislation in the Turkish Legislation and the acceptance of international standards as the "Turkish Standard", the harmonized standards in the EN 81 family have been accepted as the Turkish Standard.

During the transition period regarding the relevant technical regulation and harmonized standard, it is important for the sector to adapt by displaying the required sensitivity for both competitiveness and access to new markets.

In recent years, it has been seen that Turkish companies have been working in areas such as assembly works, complete (package) elevator sales abroad. In addition, there is a significant increase in the number of companies engaged in elevator installation in the Turkic Republics, Central Asia and EU countries. Especially with the development of foreign trade with African countries, it has led Turkish elevator companies to increase their investments in these countries.

Countries importing elevator parts from Turkey are mostly from EU, Middle East and Turkic Repuvlis. In addition, the fact that parts are exported, from the Far East to South America, shows that the power of competitiveness is of importance. However, it can also be seen that that the import of parts are mostly on products of Far East origin.

Important elevator safety components produced in the domestic market can be summarized as follows: speed limiting device (speed regulator), safety device (brake block), hydraulic and spring buffers, door lock assemblies and devices that prevent the car from falling or uncontrolled moving. However, the supply of pipe rupture valves, hydraulic power units, hydraulic pressure control units that must be used in hydraulic elevators is dependent on import, as well.

All of the other main components such as cabin, machine - engine group, full and semi-automatic cabin and landing doors, rope, control card, control panel, guide rail, indicator elements, carry-to-floor system, floor and cabin button holders, overload system, cabin and counterweight suspensions, hydraulic cylinders, gearless machine, photocell, speed control devices, control systems, skate, sensor, rail consoles, balance chain, switch, VVVF invertor, rope apparatus, pulley, systems (Systems without Engine Room) are produced by the Turkish elevator industry as a domestic product.

Number of workplaces and employment details in the industry
In accordance with the "Industry Registration Law" no.: 6948, which was numbered as 2778 in 2018, the number of elevator assembly and elevator parts manufacturing companies with an industrial registry decreased by 29 to 2,749 in 2019. The number of component manufacturers was identified to be 335.

Considering the annual operating schedule data submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Technology by elevator assembly companies within the scope of industrial registry practices, it was stated that the number of people working in the sector - together with administrative personnel - is between 30-35 thousand people.

There has been an increase in the number of companies that have been awarded a service qualification certificate (HYB) by the Turkish Standards Institute for maintenance and service works oriented at elevators. The number, which was 2,442 in 2018, increased to 2,790 in 2019.

Sector turnover
As can be seen in the 2019 export and import figures in the report, it was stated that the foreign trade volume for 2019 was 328 million dollars in total. This figure was 312 million dollars in 2018.

Considering the field of activity of the sector, it was estimated that it has a turnover of approximately 1-1.5 billion dollars in terms of annual assembly number, certification services, periodic control services, component production, maintenance and service operations.

Foreign trade
Concerning the foreign trade, the following statements were included in the report: "Through the one-to-one harmonization with the EU acquis, a significant market area has been created in Europe for the elevator industry and has continued to maintain its foreign trade volume level in this area within recent years."

In the elevator sector, the strongest area in foreign trade, while also ensuring foreign trade surplus, is the production of elevator parts and parts for years. This area has a serious position in balancing elevator import and export, and 2019 foreign trade figures support this situation, as well. The foreign trade surplus of 94 million dollars achieved in this field can be considered as the most important indicator of this situation.

Analysis for the sector for the last 6 months
In the "Elevator Sector Report 2020" prepared by the T.R. Ministry of Industry and Technology General Directorate of Industry  and including 2019 data, the following information was included in the analysis of the sector:

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak across the world and also in our country, it is estimated that sectoral activities are in a commercially decreasing trend compared to the previous period. In this process, considering the negative effects of factors within the scope of employment, supply, transportation, finance and performance matters, the tendency of the sector to continue its activities is very important.

It was observed that there was a serious decrease in the installation industry of new elevators between March 2020 and June 2020, especially due to the stagnation in the construction sector and the interruption in the construction of existing buildings.

On the other hand, it can be said that the vast majority of part manufacturers have overcome the epidemic period with the least damage thanks to their strong financial infrastructures and the absence of major changes in their export-based turnover, despite the shrinkage in the domestic and foreign market, and the majority of them reduced their capacities to 50 percent from time to time.

Service, maintenance and repair companies having the opportunity to continue their activities by taking advantage of the freedom to carry out existing services even during the pandemic process, and preserving the importance of repair, part replacement and modernization works in terms of the sustainability of vertical transportation ensured the companies in question to be affected minimally from the epidemic period.

Within the period of March-April 2020, during which the pandemic ganed pace, it was observed that the capacity utilization decreased to 50 percent compared to the pre-epidemic period in the elevator sector, while it was also observed that companies generally implemented a short-time working / leave of absence with a rate of 25%. It has been seen that while some companies gave a break to production, some kept the operations going with low capacity.

In terms of export rates, it can be said that there is a certain increase for the firms working with foreign companies in September, October and November 2020.

In this process, the sector players have tried to continue their activities by complying with all the measures as stipulated and deemed required by the public. In addition, considering the effect of the elevator on spread of the virus, the R&D and innovative activities of the sector in this area are of vital importance for human health.

The symposium events have been postponed to the next period due to the pandemic, Together with the fair organizations planned to be held in our country.
However, continuing the periodic control activities of elevators despite all kinds of difficulties is of great importance for maintaining of public health and safety.

Production index analysis of the sector
More than 600000 elevators were installed and put into service in Turkey, and today most of these elevators, which are defined as "old" and "new", are still in use.

Analysis of the industry in terms of export and import rates
Looking at the total import and export data for 2019, it can be seen that the elevator industry has an import rate of 98 million dollars against an export rate of approximately 229 million dollars. In addition, the foreign trade volume of the elevator industry is approximately 327 million dollars.

Through an analysis based on these figures, it can be seen that the sector has had a foreign trade surplus of approximately 131 million dollars. When these rates are analyzed in general, it shows that domestic assembly companies prefer imported parts, although we do possess the required domestic production or supply capacity for elevator parts and equipment.