Exportation of Bilecik marble to China and India should increase
It is known that a significant amount of Turkish marble reserves is in Bilecik. Bilecik marble is not only demanded in the national market but also in the international one. Bilecik marble that is exported to 80 countries through 42 factories and 53 quarries, is the 15 percent of Turkish marble exportation. Sales are done everywhere around Turkey, primarily to Istanbul, Ankara and Bursa, besides the foreign market. Marble exportation has increased in Bilecik since 2015 and in 2017 it exceeded the import value and reached to 20 million dollars.
As in 2017, in 2018 the marble export to China and India should continue. Because marble is the petroleum of Turkey. China has a gradual increasing marble purchase, even if it is not as high as before. In India, where we could not make use of sufficiently before, due to the implemented import quota, the figures started to sky rocket with the removal of quota. Increasing marble demand of China and India reflects to our exportation. There are criticisms that these countries, which buy the marble in blocks from Turkey, become a rival to Turkish companies by processing these products. I believe these criticisms are groundless. Because China and India use 90 percent of the products bought from Turkey in their own projects.
Observed growth for the last decade in the marble sector is parallel to the developments in the processing technology. Stone can be processed easily and economically in the desired form with the perfectionated processing techniques. The fact that marble is preferred more by the architects and the designers leads to the increase in the number of consumers globally. The increase in the interest for the more ecological and esthetical materials also helps the consumption of marble. Bilecik marble has become a marble that is used in a wide range and preferred. From this aspect, Bilecik and its surroundings shows a rapid development in the marble industry. Bilecik allows hundreds of industrialists to work for centuries with the high amount of marble reserves.
Considering the regional problems of the sector, we can observe that these are high fees for forests, incomplete road between Bilecik-yenişehir and slow procedures in mine licensing. Our association, which was established in 1999, continues to be the voice of natural stone and mine sector by collecting the problems under one roof. Our project on “Production of Chemical Materials with High Added Value from the Marble Wastes”, whose feasibility has been prepared by Bursa-eskişehir-bilecik Development Agency and TÜBİTAK, continues with the contributions of Bilecik Governorship.