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Kazakhstan today
Chapter 4. Kazakhstan’s Economy
4.7. Processing Industry
The advancement of high value-added production is one of the
most important conditions for the dynamic development of Kaza-
khstan. This is the reason that the government is offering signifi cant
support to the country’s processing industry. This sector is in an
exceptional position, because it creates new technology that often
contributes to the progress of other industries.
Kazakhstan’s processing industry has a number of advantages.
These include the host of idle production facilities where new pro-
duction could be launched, cheap workforce with relatively high
qualifi cations, the signifi cant educational and cultural background
of the population, and the country’s natural and geographical po-
tential.
The common development priorities in the sector are technical
upgrades, energy and resource saving, technical and environmental
safety of the technologies used, loss-reduction, and the effective use
of mineral resources.
Since 1999, Kazakhstan’s processing industry has been demon-
strating steady growth. The most dynamic sectors were metallurgy and
metalworking, production of construction materials and foodstuffs,
and the production of oil distillates.
One particular of the processing sector is that it is fully fed with
local raw materials and fuel. Kazakhstan is rich in coal, oil, non-fer-
rous and ferrous metals, chemical raw materials, and the construction
materials that are necessary for the advancement of heavy industry.
The country’s diversifi ed agricultural sector supplies raw materials
for light industry and food processing.
The most developed mechanical engineering sectors in Kazakhstan
are heavy and agricultural engineering, manufacture of machine tools,
instrument engineering (to a certain extent), and electrical engineering.
Taking into account the needs of the economy, the sector manufactures
equipment for the mining, coal, oil, metallurgical and food industries,
and machinery for the transport and construction sectors.
The country’s mechanical engineering enterprises also produce
press and forging equipment (Shymkent), cutting machines (Almaty),
batteries (Taldykorgan), centrifugal pumps (Astana), and X-ray equip-
ment (Aktobe).
The centres of industrial production are Almaty, Karaganda, Ust-
Kamenogorsk, Shymkent and Atyrau. Astana and Pavlodar are the
important hubs in agricultural engineering.
Foreign investment is being attracted into the mechanical engineer-
ing sector to set up the production of medical equipment, agricultural
machinery, diesel engines, food industry equipment, electric motors,
and other items.
A total of 41 chemical enterprises operate in Kazakhstan. These
include Kazphosphate, Kazazot, the Aktobe Chromic Compound
Plant, Kaustik, Orica Kazakhstan, Nitrokhim, Ulba-Ftorkompleks,
Reactive Phosphorus Compounds, SDT Group, and Yevrokhim.
In the near future, some chemical enterprises will be consolidated
into a nationalised chemical company which will manufacture fertilis-
ers and other products.
The products offered by Kazakhstan’s chemical sector are plastics,
chemical fi bres and yarn, tyres for cars and agricultural machinery, a
wide range of rubber goods, chromic compounds, calcium carbide,
caustic soda, nitrogen and phosphoric fertiliser, phosphorus com-
pounds (white phosphorus, sodium tripolyphosphate, phosphoric
acids), synthetic detergents, sulphuric and nitric acids, and other
items.
The country’s chemical industry is built on a solid mineral base,
which includes phosphate rocks, iron pyrites, barytes, bromine, so-
dium and potassium salts, sodium sulphate, oil processing and coking
industry by-products, and sulphur dioxides produced by non-ferrous
metallurgy.
Today, the most developed chemical sectors are the mining-and-
chemical industry and the heavy chemicals industry. They extract
chemical minerals and produce mineral fertilisers and inorganic
(phosphoric and sulphuric) acids, respectively.
The petrochemical industry is also on the rise. The country has
three oil refi neries in Atyrau, Pavlodar and Shymkent that produce
petrol, diesel, fuel oil, aviation kerosene, petroleum bitumen, and
other oil products.