Türkiye’s exports of boron and related products have hit an all-time high this year, said a senior official on Wednesday, as the country revved up efforts to benefit more from its vast reserves of the key material.
The state-run mining firm, Eti Maden, has shipped some 2.65 million tons of boron products this year, informed the Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez at an event in the capital Ankara.
“By transforming boron ores into products with a high added value, Eti Maden achieved significant success in boron production and sales last year and set a record with sales of 2.63 million tons of refined boron,” Dönmez noted.
Türkiye has been seeking to boost its value-added products, and has been processing more boron and producing semi-finished and finished products instead of selling directly after extraction, which was the case in previous years.
The element is actively used in many areas including technology, energy, cleaning materials, defense, glass and ceramics.
Recalling that last year’s boron sales brought in $1.03 billion, the minister said that figure rose to a whopping $1.3 billion in 2022.
Dönmez pointed out that the tide in the energy sector has changed, and aims of being a technologically advanced country has gained more importance than being an energy-producing country.
Emphasizing that Türkiye is the world’s top producer with a share of 62% of sales in the global boron market, the minister said 2023 would be the year when the country would thrive in both energy and mining sectors.
In addition to expanded mining works, Türkiye has also ramped up investments to set up new facilities to enlarge its production capacity.
Dönmez said that a boron carbide factory with a 1,000 ton capacity would be operational in the first month of 2023. He also referred to the ferro boron factory under construction in northwestern Balıkesir province since September, and said the 800-ton capacity facility would be commissioned toward the end of 2023.
The minister stressed that Türkiye, for the first time in the world, produced lithium from liquid wastes arising while producing boron.
“We started our first production with 10 tons per year at our pilot plant. Hopefully, we will hold the tender for our lithium carbonate facility in the town of Kırka, which will annually produce 600 tons of lithium carbonate in January 2023,” he noted.
He added that a second lithium carbonate factory with a yearly production capacity of 100 tons is set to be built in northwestern Bandırma province, bringing the nation’s lithium carbonate production to a total of 700 tons annually, thereby capable of meeting half of Türkiye’s annual demand.
