Gürsel Usta, the CEO of Ciner Group, stated that the group started to increase soda ash capacity by 600 thousand tones, and that the investment amount was approximately 100 million dollars.
Gürsel Usta, the chief executive officer of Ciner Group, mentioned that they were continuing the investments because there was an increase in demand for different products after the pandemic.
During a live interview with Bloomberg HT, Mr. Usta said that they started to increase soda ash capacity by 600 thousand tones, and that the investment was approximately 100 million dollars. Usta also said that the said investment was to be completed by the end of next year.
“When this investment is completed, we will have an additional 600 thousand tones capacity. Our current capacity there is 2,7 million tones right now,” said Mr. Usta.
Highlights from the interview are as following;
In the last 5 years, we made approximately 4 billion dollars worth of investment. As Ciner Group, we have a spirit that loves investing. Therefore, primarily we gave green light to an investment that will increase soda ash capacity by 600 thousand tones just because we saw an increased demand there. The amount of this investment is nearly 100 million dollars, thanks to scale economy the investment amount is decreasing. The said investment will have been completed by the end of next year. Our current capacity there is 2,7 million tones. When this additional capacity comes, our total capacity will be 3,3 million tones. This will give us additional 200-250 million dollars worth of export opportunity. I am honored to say that this is a 100% value-added export. We already export 85% of our total production.
We have 2 furnaces in Bozüyük for glass packaging, and now we are building the third one. This is also an investment that was already given green light. This new furnace will be operational after the first half of next year. We have all the necessary permits for 2 furnaces of 650 kilograms in Ankara Kazan. We also applied for incentives, and they are about to begin. This also means an investment that is nearly 260 million euros.
We are the most eco-friendly company in the soda ash business. We produce based on solution mining. To put it in an easy comparison context, the water amount we use and our waste amount is between one-fifth and one-tenth of what the other best companies consume, whereas our energy consumption is three times less than the others. We are the only firm which has the certificate for green products. This certificate is given to companies that are able to produce the most optimum products using the minimum resources, and we have that certificate. Our carbon emission is half of the best firms in Europe.
Our primary objective is to fill the gap in the market. Turkey produces very qualified glass packaging. The support coming from the currency side is crucial, thanks to that support we have more and more exporting opportunities. Within this framework, when we plan our investment within this framework, we will have additional 150 million euros worth of export.
