ASTANA – Kazakhstan is advancing five major initiatives with a total investment of approximately $19.5 billion in the metallurgical and petrochemical sectors, expected to create over 8,000 permanent jobs, as was reported during a May 21 government meeting.
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov chairs a government meeting. Photo credit: primeminister.kz
According to the Prime Minister’s press service, the government also reviewed five projects in the chemical and metallurgical industries earlier this month.
In the Pavlodar Region, construction has begun on a plant to process high-carbon sulphide gold-bearing concentrates. The facility will process up to 300,000 tons of gold-bearing concentrate and produce up to 15 tons of gold in doré bars. The investment totals $978 million, with 500 permanent jobs planned. The plant is being built in the Pavlodar special economic zone.
Three petrochemical projects are planned in the Atyrau Region. One of them is a butadiene and derivatives plant, with a production capacity of 305,000 tons per year. Estimated at $900 million in investment, the project is scheduled for commissioning in 2028 and will create 750 jobs. The initiative is being developed in partnership with China Tianchen Engineering Corporation.
Another project in Atyrau is a polyethylene terephthalate plant, led by KazMunayGas (KMG) PetroChem. With an investment of $1.5 billion, the plant will produce up to 735,000 tons of products per year and employ 400 people.
The region has also started the second phase of Kazakhstan’s first integrated gas chemical complex, aimed at producing 1.25 million tons of polyethylene per year. With an investment of $7.4 billion, the facility will manufacture over 20 grades of polyethylene, including premium products, after reaching the design level in 2029. The project will create 800 jobs.
As part of the formation of the gas chemical cluster, it is planned to build a gas separation complex that will extract 1.6 million tons of ethane and 355,000 tons of propane annually. With an investment value of $2.7 billion, the project will create over 400 jobs.
The meeting also reviewed the expansion of the Shymkent Oil Refinery from a capacity of six million to 12 million tons per year. The upgrade will involve $6 billion in investment and provide stable employment for nearly 5,200 people. The expansion is expected to significantly boost Kazakhstan’s oil refining capacity.
