Eti Bakır A.Ş. Samsun Plant Provides Boost to Economy

Eti Bakır A.Ş. Samsun Operations, part of Cengiz Holding, continues to develop Turkey's mining resources, particularly copper ore, within the framework of sustainable development, combining institutional knowledge with new technologies to produce high-value, standards-compliant products that contribute to national prosperity. Leveraging Turkey's mining resources to generate high value-added products for the economy and securing raw material supplies in a reliable and cost-effective manner are critical to the country's development and ensuring that this development remains sustainable. Especially given that minerals are used directly and indirectly across numerous industrial sectors, demand for minerals is rising in parallel with countries' levels of development. Mining has become one of the most important sectors shaping the economy of the future.

Curbing USD 750 Million Import Outflow

Turkey, which is 90% dependent on imports for copper supply, consumes 500,000 tons of cathode copper annually. This precious metal, imported 90% from abroad, is supplied to domestic industry, preventing approximately USD 750 million from leaving the country through imports. The facility processes 400,000 tons of copper concentrate annually to produce 70,000 tons of cathode copper to LME Grade A specifications, while also producing 600,000 tons of sulfuric acid and 600,000 tons of fertilizer annually. In addition, newly established port operations, phosphoric acid and fertilizer facilities will further expand the operation's production scope. Eti Bakır A.Ş., which ranked 254th on the Istanbul Chamber of Industry's list of Turkey's 500 largest industrial enterprises in 2016, currently employs a total of 2,500 people directly across its Samsun, Küre, Murgul, Halıköy and Espiye operations, with indirect employment bringing the figure to as high as 10,000. Throughout all these processes, continuous development training provided to employees makes significant contributions to increasing the skilled workforce. Moreover, a substantial portion of equipment required for operation and maintenance is sourced from the region, contributing to the local economy. Following the takeover of the operation, important improvement initiatives were launched in line with a continuous improvement philosophy, aimed at increasing production efficiency, raising product quality, and ensuring that environmental pollutants resulting from operations are in compliance with regulations. In the work carried out, best available techniques and European Union Directives are considered alongside national regulations. Within the scope of environmental investments, wastewater treatment facilities, flue gas treatment facility and regulated waste disposal facilities have been established to meet all requirements specified under the Environmental Law. Accordingly, Environmental Permit and License Certificate and Zero Waste Certificate have been obtained. As a result of all these efforts, the operation, functioning at international standards, has obtained ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 integrated management system certificates.