Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Dönmez, regarding the boron carbide investment put into operation in Bandırma, Balıkesir, said, “Our country is one of the few countries in the world in this field with its boron carbide plant with an annual capacity of 1000 tons. There were 4 countries producing this product. Now there is Turkey as the 5th country.” said.
The opening of the Bandırma Boron Carbide Production Facility, which was established with the cooperation of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Presidency of Defense Industries, with the partnership of Eti Maden and SSTEK companies, was held at the Eti Maden Operations General Directorate's campus in Bandırma, with a ceremony attended by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In his speech at the opening of Turkey's first boron carbide plant, Minister Dönmez expressed his sadness due to the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş that affected 11 provinces.
Wishing God's mercy to those who lost their lives in the earthquakes and a speedy recovery to the injured, Dönmez said:
“Since the first day of the incident, our state continues to heal the wounds with all its means. From the first day of the earthquake disaster, we were on the field with our colleagues. From now on, we will continue to stand by our citizens on the field. After the earthquake, we immediately resolved the problems in electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution lines, thank goodness. As of now, we do not have any problems in electricity and gas supply. Within the scope of the restructuring works in the region, we have also started the necessary preparations for the infrastructure works of the new regions to be established. The pain and sadness we experience puts more responsibility on us. We undertake the responsibility of working, producing and striving more for our country, our country and our future. We will work harder than yesterday to do better. We will revive our country with investments and projects, and we will continue on our way stronger than before.”
“Last year, we broke our own export record with the sale of 2,67 million tons of boron”
Dönmez emphasized that they have made significant progress in all areas of energy and natural resources in the last 20 years, and emphasized that they have established the technology and R&D infrastructure that increases the value of this product up to 2 times, especially with the value-added product approach they carry out in boron ore.
Explaining that Turkey is the leader in the world boron market with its boron exports to more than 100 countries, Dönmez continued:
“Last year, we broke our own export record with 2,67 million tons of boron sales. However, these days as we march towards the future with the goal of a great and powerful Turkey, we want to go one step further than that. I hope the century of Turkey will be the century of technology, sustainability, development, stability, science and production. In line with this vision, we are taking our steps in the field of energy and natural resources. In boron ore, we have recently focused on our efforts to produce high value-added end products. Boron carbide is also a product of this understanding. Boron carbide is a very important industrial material with its high temperature resistance, hardness, physical strength and low density. It is widely used in the defense industry, nuclear, metallurgy, automotive industry and the production of wear-resistant mechanical parts. Boron ore is a mine that can increase its value up to 2 times, from raw material to end product, depending on the sector it is used in and its place in the value chain. With the lithium carbonate and ferro boron plants that we will commission after the boron carbide plant, we will process such a high potential ore with high technology and turn the ore into jewelery and start exporting it. With the boron carbide plant with an annual capacity of 1000 tons, which we will open today, our country is among the few countries in the world in this field. There were 4 countries producing this product. Now there is Turkey as the 5th country. By producing boron carbide, which is used in high-tech products, with our own means, we are opening the door to a new era.”
Minister Dönmez informed that 279 people will be employed when the boron carbide plant starts working at full capacity.
Noting that this facility will directly provide an annual income of 35-40 million dollars to the national economy, Dönmez said, “Our boron investments will not be limited in our boron carbide facility. This year, we aim to lay the foundations of our two new lithium facilities with a production capacity of 700 tons. Again this year, we will put our ferro boron plant into service, which we laid the foundations of last year. On the other hand, we continue our work on rare earth elements. Hopefully, our pilot plant will be put into operation in a short time this year. The data we will obtain from there will be a reference for our facility that will operate at full capacity.” used the phrases.
Fatih Dönmez, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, thanked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Eti Maden İşletmeleri General Manager Serkan Keleşer, who gave the strongest support to every project they carried out, and those who contributed to their efforts.