NUR-SULTAN – The ANSA Silicon company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will invest $100 million in a silicon plant in the Ekibastuz town in the Pavlodar Region.
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The project will be implemented with the support of the Kazakh Invest national company and is currently at the design and budget documentation stage – a public hearing will follow next.
The plant is expected to be commissioned in 2023. At the initial stage, its annual production capacity is estimated to reach 35,000 tonnes of technical silicon, with a plan to bring it to 70,000 tonnes and eventually to 105,000 tonnes eventually.
“At this moment, we know what factors make this project stand out. Advanced technologies will be used in producing technical silicon while protecting the environment, methods which have never been used in Kazakhstan. The project is also unique because it will use raw material of the highest quality which will produce the product in the highest quality in accordance with the requirements of high-end tech customers,” said ANSA Silicon General Director Bhakta Panigrahi.
The company, a subsidiary of Canarax Trading, will employ 377 people at the initial stage and up to 200 people at the construction stage. It plans to hire not only local city residents but also specialists from other Kazakh regions.
“The number of jobs will increase as the production develops. Even though the plant has not been built yet, the company has already started to invest, and the investors will get their first revenues only a few years after the production kicks off,” said Kazakh Invest Regional Director Madiyar Daniyarov.
Technical silicon will be exported to the United States and European countries.
Last year, Kazakh silicon exports made up $24 million with 40 percent going to the United States, which remains the main market and which also accounted for half of the exports in the first six months of 2020 amounting to $2 million.
