In this context, Soda Sanayii A.Ş., operating within Şişecam Chemicals, enters into an equal production partnership contract with Ciner Group for the natural soda production in the US.
Şişecam Group, a global actor in business fields including all main areas of glass industry -flat glass, glassware, glass packaging and glass fiber- as well as soda ash and chromium chemicals, is going to make a new investment in the United States (US) with Ciner Group having significant know-how in natural soda production. For the investment in question, Soda Sanayii A.Ş., operating within Şişecam Chemicals, entered into an equal production partnership contract with Ciner Group for the natural soda production in the US.
Today, Şişecam Group is amongst the top seven synthetic producers of the world with its total annual soda ash production capacity of 2.4 million tons that is the sum of 1.4 million tons at its Mersin Soda Plant, 585,000 tons at its Şişecam Soda Lukavac Plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 375,000 tons at its Solvay Sodi Plant in Bulgaria, where the Group has production partnership with the world’s largest synthetic soda producer Solvay.
Ciner Group that Şişecam Group has entered into a production partnership contract for its new investment in the US is the world’s largest natural soda producer thanks to its total natural soda production capacity of 7 million tons per year that is made up of 2.7 million tons in Kazan and 1.8 million tons at Eti Soda with solution mining operations in Turkey and 2.5 million tons in the US with conventional mining.
“We will become one of the world’s top five players in soda ash production.”
“The new investment in question would offer the possibility for a natural soda production by employing one of the most advanced techniques of the low-cost solution mining. Depending on the timing of obtaining the required investment and operating licenses and permits for this investment, which, in our opinion, will take an important part in increasing our global market share by reinforcing our existence in the Asian and American markets, we are expecting to commence the production operations by the year 2024. We are planning to finance this investment, which has an annual natural soda production capacity of 2.5 million tons besides 200,000 tons of sodium bicarbonate production capacity, with a long-term project financing loan by 80% and the balance with an equity capital to be invested equally. In the wake of this investment, we will become one of the world’s top five players in soda ash line and have taken another giant step towards our goal to be among the top three,” Kırman noted.