With clear leadership in the boron market, Türkiye continues strategic investments in this field, with the latest one resulting in the opening of a production facility in the northwestern province of Balıkesir on Saturday.
The Bigadiç Granular Boron Production Facility, which will produce under Eti Maden, was inaugurated with a ceremony attended by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar.
In his speech at the opening, the minister emphasized that Türkiye has one of the most important reserves of rare earth elements in the world and said, "As Eti Maden, we are working very hard in this field. In addition, our country, which has 73% of the world's boron reserves, is the world leader in this field with its production capacity, technological infrastructure, industrial competence, product range and quality."
"We are investing in almost every product group for value-added production in boron mines," he added.
In a post on social media account, he noted that with this facility, "we are expanding our product range by producing granulated pipes needed in the fertilizer industry, which are essential for plant health and efficient production."
Last spring, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inaugurated Türkiye's strategic facility for boron processing, the Bandırma Boron Carbide Production Plant in Balıkesir.
Apart from deposits in Balıkesir, Türkiye is known to have an abundance of boron reserves in the Kırka district of central Eskişehir province and Kütahya's Emet district.
Bayraktar also noted that as of the end of August, Eti Maden had increased its boron production by 36% compared to the same period of the previous year, reaching 1.6 million tons, and increased its revenue by 27% based on the amount to $846 million.
"In this way, we have reached the highest boron products sales figure in the last 24 years. We aim to earn $1.3 billion in revenue in return for the sale of 2.5 million tons of boron by the end of 2024," he added.
Eti Maden is a state-owned mining and chemical products institution that primarily extracts boron minerals and derivatives in the country.
Moreover, the minister also said that the newly opened facility will have an annual production capacity of 35,000 tons and an annual income of approximately TL 700 million. "With this facility, Eti Maden's total employment in Bigadiç will increase to 1,211 and its total employment in Balıkesir will increase to 2,700," he said.
Boron products are used in various industries, from glass, ceramics and metallurgy to agriculture and fertilizers.
