Turkish mining sector achieves USD 2.843 billion in exports

Turkey's mining sector, which brings underground wealth into the economy with an environmentally-conscious approach under the motto "Our Lives Depend on Mining", generated USD 2 billion 843 million in foreign exchange for Turkey in the first half of 2024. The Aegean Mining Exporters Association, which leads Turkey in natural stone exports, increased its exports from USD 527 million to USD 623 million with a 20 percent export growth in the January – June 2024 period and became the export growth leader within the Aegean Exporters Associations. İbrahim Alimoğlu, Member of the Sectors Council of the Turkish Exporters Assembly and Chairman of the Aegean Mining Exporters Association, underlined that the mining sector achieved significant success in the first half of 2024 despite high input costs and low exchange rates by working with great dedication. Describing how they organized marketing activities around the world in the first half of 2024 to increase their exports in the mining sector and worked like bees, Alimoğlu said: "For the first time in 2024, we organized a national participation in the KINTEX fair in South Korea. We carried out the 11th national participation organization in the Xiamen International Natural Stone Fair in China in 2024. We conducted a sectoral trade delegation to Saudi Arabia. At the İzmir Marble Fair, we hosted natural stone importers from all over the world in Turkey. As a result of all these efforts, we had a successful period in the first half of 2024. We will continue our efforts in the second half of the year to reach our export target of USD 1 billion 250 million set for the end of 2024," he said. Stating that the natural stone sector obtained 53 percent of total exports with a USD 328 million share in the Aegean Mining Exporters Association's exports, Alimoğlu continued as follows: "In our natural stone exports, processed products reached USD 261 million, while our rough natural stone exports amounted to USD 67.5 million. The share of our processed natural stone exports reached 80 percent. Our metallic ore exports increased by 55 percent from USD 172 million to USD 268 million. Metallic ores were the driving force in our export growth."

Critical minerals: the key to green transition

Touching on the fact that the European Green Deal, which the European Union presented in 2019 to stop climate change and create a greener world, will be a priority agenda item for the mining sector as well as for the world in the coming period, Alimoğlu stated: "The key to green transition is critical minerals. I would like to give an example here. Copper is of critical importance, particularly for the electrical transition. According to the International Energy Agency, annual new copper mine investments should be made at the level of USD 125-130 billion, yet the annual investment volume has been declining since 2012. In 2023 it remained at USD 104 billion. Copper is just one example here. When we think comprehensively, the expected increase in demand will be an opportunity for our country, which has rich ore deposits," he concluded.

China, US and Spain lead in mining exports

The Aegean Mining Exporters Association exported mining products to 143 countries in the first half of 2024, with China topping the list with demand of USD 154 million. EMEA members succeeded in increasing their exports to China from USD 57 million in the January – June period of 2023 to a 167 percent increase in the same time period of 2024. Mining exports from the Aegean Region to the US increased by 12 percent from USD 100 million to USD 112 million, while mining exports to Spain rose by 23 percent from USD 41 million to USD 50 million.