In the industrial manufacture of boron carbides, boron(Ⅲ) oxide(1) or boric acid(2) are reacted with carbon in resistively heated furnaces at 2400°C (as in SiC-manufacture):

The tetraboron carbide produced by these processes consists of coarse hard particles suitable for grinding applications (ca. 360 t/a) or as starting materials for the manufacture of metallic borides.

Fine particulate tetraboron carbide is produced by the reduction of boron(Ⅲ) oxide with magnesium or aluminum in the presence of carbon:

Fine particulate powder with particle sizes below 5 µm can be compressed by hot pressing at 2100 to 2200°C to dense ceramic products. These are used in the manufacture of armored plating or in nuclear reactors as a protective material against neutrons (high neutron capture cross-section of boron).
 
The main markets are in the highly industrialized countries: North America (40%), Europe (30%) and Japan(30%).