Kipaş Holding will establish Europe's largest paper mill in Söke, Aydın, by investing $500 million. As previously hinted by Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci in his visit to Aydın in spring, a million-dollar investment to set up Europe's largest paper mill will be undertaken by Kipaş Holding, one of the biggest industrial establishments in Turkey.

Kipaş Holding board member Sinem Öksüz Dedebayraktar said the holding entered the sector with Kipaş Paper Industry, one of Turkey's biggest paper mills, which started production in 2014, adding that construction of the factory, which will recycle waste paper, is continuing rapidly and that the holding aims to start production by the end of 2019.

Dedebayraktar said, "Europe's largest paper machine will be in Turkey," indicating that of the two machine investments in Söke, the first has the same capacity as the existing machine in Kahramanmaraş, while the other has a capacity of 720,000 tons. "In other words, we have made a new investment decision of approximately 1.2 million tons. To sum up the capacity of the 720,000-ton paper machine, about 45 percent of Turkey's cardboard consumption will be produced by a single machine," she added, stressing that it will be a giant investment.

Noting that they aim to end Turkey's imports amounting to $300 million with these new investments and achieve $225 million in exports, Dedebayraktar said they would provide about $500 million in support to the current account deficit in addition to employing 800 people. "It's a project worth about $500 million. We are proud to have such an investment in our country," she said.

Dedebayraktar also said Kipaş Holding's investments in the paper sector are not limited to Aydın. She mentioned a new investment in Bilecik's Bozüyük Organized Industrial Zone where they are establishing a corrugated cardboard and box factory with the latest technology, noting that the factory, which will cost about 40 million euros, is expected to open in September 2018, while one section will be commissioned in May 2018.