ASTANA – Kazakhstan plans to build a $1.35 billion gas chemical production facility to manufacture 700,000 tonnes of urea and 42,000 tonnes of ammonia annually. This was announced during a March 4 meeting with Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and ESTA Construction CEO Mustafa Toprak.
Olzhas Bektenov meets with Mustafa Toprak. Photo credit: primeminister.kz
According to the prime minister’s office, the plant will be located near the Kuryk seaport in the Mangystau Region and create 3,000 temporary jobs during construction and 400 permanent ones upon completion.
Bektenov highlighted that domestic urea production will help reduce import reliance on and enhance food security.
“The president pays great attention to the development of the country’s agro-industrial complex. Last year we had a record harvest. The government has allocated 700 billion tenge (US$1.4 billion) to support agrarians. An important issue is the provision of quality and affordable mineral fertilizers. Therefore, your project is of interest to us from the point of view of meeting the domestic demand for urea, as well as its export,” he noted.
Following the meeting, state authorities were instructed to expedite all procedures and submit a draft Investment Agreement with ESTA Construction within two weeks.
Kazakhstan produces ammonium nitrate, ammophos, and ammonium sulfate. However, with a scientific demand of 3.2 million tons, domestic capacity meets only 56% of the requirement, producing around 1.8 million tons of fertilizer per year.
