US-based financial agency Bloomberg claimed that Turkey is in cooperation talks with China to process its reserves of rare earth elements. According to the report, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar is expected to lead a delegation to China in October. A potential partnership could make Turkey more attractive to Chinese electric vehicle and battery manufacturers.
According to people familiar with the matter, advanced talks will take place as Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar visits China in October with a delegation.
Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources declined to comment, while China’s Ministry of Commerce did not respond to a request for comment.
Sources also claimed that after BYD agreed to build a factory in Turkey, Turkey is also hopeful of a step that could encourage Chinese companies to produce batteries in the country.
Turkey discovered a large reserve of rare earth elements in Beylikova near Eskisehir in central Anatolia two years ago. The Energy Ministry has said it’s ready to build a refinery there to process the raw material.
Erdogan discussed cooperation with China
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazakhstan in early July and discussed cooperation with China on the development of metals used in a range of high-tech applications.
“We are working on the commissioning of an industrial-scale facility that will make our country an important player in the global rare earth elements supply chain,” Industry and Technology Minister Fatih Kacır said last month. “We will move Turkey to a position to have a say in different links of the production chain from raw materials to the final product in electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy technologies,” Kacır said.
