SG: Turkey’s Boron Potency Expected to be Discussed in D-8 1st Working Group on Mines Cooperation

Istanbul, Turkey | August 24, 2008 by D-8 Secretariat

Turkey dominates world boron market, becomes price-settler.

The increasing significance of boron in a wide variety of industries has made Turkey a leader in determining market prices, industry representatives have said.

Orhan Yilmaz, general manager of Eti Mine Works — a leading mining company in Turkey — said, “Turkey has positioned itself as number one in the world in terms of production and sales capacity of boron minerals.”

“Thanks to large-scale investments since 2005, Turkey has begun to export 95 percent of its boron to 68 countries,” he said. “Today Turkey has 72 percent of the boron mines in the world, and more than half of Turkish boron exports go to Asian countries such as China, Japan and Malaysia.” He stressed that with this potential, Turkey has started to determine the price of boron in the world market.

Turkey is estimated to host 4 billion tons of boron reserves, 70 percent of which are located in the province of Kutahya. Revenue from boron exports was $186 million in 2002, and sales are expected to go up to $600 million this year. Yilmaz puts the target for 2012 at $1 billion. The production of boron is expected to be 1.5 million tons by the end of this year, up from 800,000 tons in 2002. Yilmaz says production will reach 3 million tons in four years.

Boron chemicals are used in a number of industries, including glass, detergents and ceramics. The demand for boron minerals has also increased in recent years. Yilmaz mentioned that their stock reserves fell below 1 ton due to soaring demand, especially from China, which imports 70 percent of its boron from Turkey.

In the past Eti Mine Works used to stock enough reserves in its warehouses to last from six months to a year. “Not any more,” says Yilmaz, pointing out that the company’s net profit was $217 million as of 2007. “When Eti Mine Works reaches the export mark of $1 billion, our profit will be half a billion dollars, putting us among the top five on the ISO 500 list,” he said, referring to a prestigious top 500 industries list in Turkey.

During the fourth D-8 Working Group Meeting on Energy in Cairo, Egypt on 1-2 June 2008, Indonesian delegation confirmed their readiness to be the host for the 1st D-8 Working Group on Mines Cooperation. D-8 member states posses huge potential of natural resources, such as mines. As popularly known, Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s biggest palm oil producer, either for food or bio diesel; while Turkey also renown for its boron, which is imported by most Asian countries. Palm oil producers such as Indonesia and Malaysia require boron anhydride for micro nutrient. Secretary General of D-8, Dipo Alam, said that they will propose to discuss Turkey’s potency as the biggest boron deposit country in the Working Group on Mines, to be used in the coperation framework of D-8.

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