Turkey’s boron sales hit record of $1 billion

ANKARA

Turkey exported 2.5 million tons of boron products this year, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez said on Dec. 28.

“We made a record figure of $1 billion from boron sales,” he said at an event organized by state owned company Eti Mine Works in Ankara.

Turkey has a 62 percent share in the sale of boron globally. The metal is used commercially in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, detergents and fertilizers.

Marking a milestone in the industry, a boron carbide plant will be inaugurated in the country by the end of 2022, according to Dönmez’s remarks.

“We have carried out an important study on ferrous boron, which is used primarily in steel production,” he added.
“We are in the process of signing a contract for a ferro boron production facility with an annual capacity of 800 tons in [the Marmara province of] Balıkesir. We will breakground for the facility in 2022.”

Dönmez stated that the construction of a pilot facility in the Central Anatolian province of Eskişehir will begin in the first quarter of 2022.

The plant is expected to help prevent annually $20 million lithium imports. When fully operational, the plant will be producing nearly 600 tons annually in the coming years, which will meet half of the country’s lithium demand.

Eti Mine Works produces lithium from liquid boron wastes and a new domestic lithium facility will begin construction in 2022.