Boron: Characteristics
How boric oxide makes glass shrug off heat
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 5.2 Mt of boron minerals (2024); Turkey 1.5 Mt refined borates (2025e) | World boron minerals 5.24 Mt in 2024 (WMD). USGS cannot sum a world total because countries report different forms: Turkey refined borates, Chile and Bolivia ulexite, China B2O3 equivalent, US withheld. | World Mining Data 2026; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Inventory and stock levels | not published | No exchange or government stocks. Producers hold ore and product stocks at mine and port, undisclosed. US exports refined borax (about 600 kt) and boric acid (about 260 kt) in 2025, indicating large integrated output. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Capacity utilisation | Eti Maden about 95% (2022, 2.65 Mt processed) | Turkey's state producer reported running at about 95% of capacity in 2022. Other producers do not publish utilisation. | Hurriyet Daily News, Dec 2022 via content_v2 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | Turkey 44.9%, US 24.8%, Peru 7.4%; top-3 about 77%; HHI 2,804 (2024); two firms (Eti Maden, Rio Tinto) dominate | Turkey holds about 87% of the reserves USGS lists by country (950 Mt). Turkey had 57.2% of world natural-borate export value in 2024. | World Mining Data 2026; USGS MCS 2026; UN Comtrade 2024 |
| Supply elasticity | medium: large open pits can lift output in 1-2 years; new mines take 5-10 years | Turkish capacity was expanded in steps by the state producer. New supply in the pipeline is tied to lithium projects, so it depends on lithium prices, which fell about 80% from 2022 levels. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | Jadar (Serbia) 286 kt/yr boric acid; Nevada lithium-boron project about 170 kt/yr boric acid (construction delayed to March 2026) | Jadar was named an EU Critical Raw Materials Act strategic project in June 2025. Piskanja (Serbia) signed to renovate the Pobrdje colemanite mine with a 21-year life. CapEx figures were not found. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | natural borate exports $416 million (2024): Turkey 57.2%, Bolivia 23.8%; China (32.1%), Brazil (21.3%) and India (11.3%) lead imports | Turkish and Californian refined borates ship in bulk and bags to China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. Andean ulexite moves overland to Pacific ports. | UN Comtrade 2024; USGS MCS 2026 |
Material characteristics Industrial mineral
Boron is sold as borates and boric acid, priced on boric oxide (B2O3) content. B2O3 lowers glass melting temperature and thermal expansion, which gives heat-resistant borosilicate glass and glass-fibre insulation. Sodium versus calcium content decides which mineral suits which use: sodium-free colemanite for E-glass fibre, sodium borates for detergents and insulation.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| B2O3 content (pricing basis) | Boric acid 56.3%; borax pentahydrate 47.8%; borax decahydrate 36.5% (stoichiometric) | Products are priced per unit of B2O3, so content sets value per tonne | USGS MCS 2026 (pricing basis); stoichiometry |
| Mineral type | Colemanite (Ca), ulexite (Na-Ca), tincal and kernite (Na) make up 90% of industrial use | Calcium borates suit sodium-sensitive E-glass fibre; sodium borates suit detergents and insulation | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Glass function | Borosilicate glass typically about 12-13% B2O3 (indicative) | Low thermal expansion for labware, cookware, pharma vials and solar glass | Glass industry references (indicative) |
| Impurities | Arsenic, iron and sulphate limits for glass and fertiliser grades (producer specifications) | Arsenic-bearing colemanite needs cleaning; iron colours glass | Producer specifications (qualitative) |
| Unit value | US import average $540/t c.i.f. (2025) | Benchmark for traded borates | USGS MCS 2026 |