Mining Sector Contributes to Foreign Trade Deficit

The Istanbul Mining Exporters Association (İMİB) held its fourth awareness and international branding journey information meeting in Turkish mining in Kayseri. Speaking at the meeting, which brought together bureaucrats, local politicians, NGOs, chamber chairs, universities, opinion leaders and sector representatives, İMİB Vice Chairman Rüstem Çetinkaya underscored that of the 90 types of minerals traded globally, 77 are found in Turkey. Çetinkaya stated that Turkey realized USD 4.6 billion in mining exports last year, which corresponds to a 2.7% share of Turkey's total exports. Pointing out that mining has very low imported input costs and therefore contributes highly to net exports, Çetinkaya noted that more than 90% of each unit of mining export remains in Turkey as foreign currency, making it one of the most important sectors in terms of contributing to the foreign trade deficit. Çetinkaya said: "With the slogan 'Our Lives Are Mining,' we have been organizing workshops over the last two years to explain that mining is an integral part of all stages of our lives. For example, without mining activities in our country, there would be no ceramics sector, no chemicals sector, no glass sector, no cement or aggregate sectors, or the sector would become import-dependent. Nearly 90% of the materials we use in construction are mining products."

Source: Ntv