Çorum's Importance in Exports
Çorum has made a striking rise on Türkiye’s export map in recent years. After leading the 18-province Black Sea Region with USD 3.465 billion in exports in 2024, the province carried its exports to USD 6.209 billion in 2025, breaking record upon record.
Two Record-Breaking Years
- Black Sea leadership: The region’s number one in 2022 and 2024 (also among the top in 2023).
- The 2025 surge: Passed the USD 5 billion mark for the first time with USD 5.271 billion in the first 11 months, closing the year at USD 6.2 billion.
- Monthly record: In December 2025 it reached its highest monthly figure ever with USD 936 million, up 96.83% from the same month of the previous year.
- Ranking: In 2025 it ranked 3rd among provinces with the highest export growth on an activity basis (leaving Istanbul behind) and entered the national top 10.
The Engine of the Surge: Gold and Jewellery
The most important actor behind Çorum’s export surge is Ahlatcı Metal Rafineri. Türkiye’s largest gold refinery, the facility operates in the central Çorum OSB; with its integrated structure spanning jewellery to refining, it has turned the city into a hub for gold and jewellery exports:
- It became Türkiye’s gold/jewellery export champion in 2024 (Türkiye Exporters Assembly award) — a success it has repeated for years.
- In 2020 it topped its sector with over USD 1.3 billion in exports.
The local press preferred to call Sungurlu’s share of the 2025 export growth the “Sungurlu effect”: ARCA’s munitions facilities and Ahlatcı’s USD 2.3 billion gunpowder-propellant investment (GoldForce) in the district are rapidly expanding defence exports.
Other Strong Sectors
- Leblebi and pulses — Çorum leblebi is a world brand; the locomotive of processed food exports
- Machinery — especially mill machinery; 13 of DESMÜD’s 58 member firms are from Çorum
- Medical and healthcare products — devices produced in Çorum OSB are exported worldwide
- Defense industry — ARCA Defense’s integrated ammunition facilities in Sungurlu OSB; 2025 export championship
- Plastics, metal casting and ceramics
Defense Industry: The New Power Line
In the 2020s, the defense industry became one of the most dynamic items of Çorum’s exports. ARCA Defense, at Sungurlu OSB, meets the needs of the Turkish Armed Forces with its integrated production structure spanning explosive chemicals to rockets and artillery ammunition, while also exporting to friendly and allied countries. Certified as export champion in 2025, the company is shaping the region’s new industrial vision with demands for thousands of decares of expansion. See our page on the defense industry in Sungurlu for details.
The Infrastructure Behind Exports
Çorum’s export success is no coincidence; it rests on an institutional network:
- Çorum OSB — alone generates 49.3% of the region’s exports (about USD 742 million); exporting to 136 countries
- Çorum Teknokent — an attraction centre for R&D and design centres
- Çorum TSO — the exporter’s umbrella, from trade registry to circulation documents
- Orta Karadeniz Development Agency — a grant ecosystem from feasibility studies to the “Twin Transition in Exports” technical support programme
- Hitit University Technology Transfer Office — transferring university knowledge to industry
For the city’s general economic profile, see our Çorum Economy page.