SODİTAŞ, FROM THE PAST TO PRESENT TIME...

Established in the beginning of the 1970s, Soditaş is one of the first chemical companies of Turkey. 

The history of Soditaş has witnessed various innovative initiatives such as partnerships in raw material trade of Turkey, extensive distribution network operations established through variety of products in marketing strategies and investments in product storage established with a visionary approach and developed over the years. Having completed its 50^th operating year in 2020, the company is currently being run by the fourth generation.

From “Yako Baruh and Partners” to Soditaş…

Soditas’ history dates back to “Yako Baruh and Partners” (Yako Baruh ve Ortakları). Yako Baruh started the first chemical raw material trade through the company founded in Maksudiye Han located in the Balikpazari district with the trade name “Yako Baruh and Partners” (YBO), in the 1940’s. This enterprise served as a pioneering model and provided the inspiration for many entrepreneurships in Turkey where there was no evidence of domestic investment in the chemical industry at that time. Having continued its activities in the chemical raw material trade until the end of the 1960s, “Yako Baruh and Partners” was redesigned and made open to growth and improvement by Yako Baruh's sons Lazar and Alber Baruh within the framework of a new approach and innovative investments. The education of Lazar and Alber Baruh brothers in the field of engineering and business management, and their tendencies to establishing strategic partnerships transformed “Yako Baruh and Partners” into a new organization called “Soditaş”. In the early 1970s, Soditaş once more broke the new ground in Turkey and built the first chemical raw material storage area/warehouse called “Solventaş” in Gebze.  

Strategic Partnerships in the Paint Industry…

The company run by the second generation of Baruh family carried on its activities and extended both its product range and distribution network by establishing partnerships with several domestic paint manufacturing companies in Turkey in mid 1970s. Supplying chemical raw materials to paint factories and performing the after-sales distribution of products, Soditaş has contributed to the development of the industry by providing both content and distribution support to the first paints manufactured in Turkey. Partnerships with paint factories continued until the 1980s during which foreign distributorship deals were intensified together with the third generation. 

The 1980s, when the third generation Baruh family took over the management, were the years during which huge investments in infrastructure and logistics at Solventaş came to the fore and gained importance. In this period when foreign agency agreements expedited, the storage area capacity of Solventaş was increased from 28,000m³ to 350,000m³. The Solventas terminal was sold in 2016.

Today, the company is being managed by the fourth generation under the consultancy of the third generation. In addition to successfully carrying the legacy of YBO, Soditaş and Solventaş into the future, the Baruh family keeps making a difference in the chemical raw material trade, agency and distributorship operations.

Long-Term Cooperation of Soditaş and Contimpex with the Leading Chemical Producers 

Soditaş has gained the trust of domestic/international raw material manufacturing market and the loyalty of many chemical customers to whom it has been providing services through its representative offices since 1980s and before. After 1980, Soditaş also started providing services abroad and created the brand Contimpex in Switzerland and extended its fields of services. 

Cooperation with ExxonMobil for about 50 years proves the reliability and continuity of Soditaş and Contimpex. World’s most important manufacturers such as Celanese (1982), LyondellBasell (1984), OQ Chemical, Cepsa (1990) and Repsol (2000) are among their trade partners.

Soditaş and Contimpex companies devotedly continue their operations in Switzerland and Turkey with their third and fourth generations.