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Energy Minister: Kazakhstan Needs Liquefied Gas For Petrochemical Industry

Kazakhstan’s Minister of Energy, Almasadam Satkaliyev, believes that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) should primarily be used as a raw material for the country’s growing petrochemical industry, instead of its current widespread use as fuel for motor vehicles. “Liquefied petroleum gas is not used as [motor] fuel anywhere in the world. Instead, it is used as an important raw material for producing products with high added value,” Satkaliyev said at a government meeting on July 16, chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. Regarding data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Minister Satkaliyev said that in 2023, Kazakhstan had 582,000 motor vehicles running on LPG, an 18% increase compared to 2022 (491,000). Cheaper than gasoline, LPG is Kazakhstan's most popular and economical fuel for vehicle owners. The minister said that due to low prices for LPG, the country's motorists continue switching to this fuel type, thus increasing its consumption. Earlier reports said that in 2023, LPG consumption in Kazakhstan increased by 400,000 tons, or 28%, compared to 2022. Last year, LPG consumption volumes amounted to 2.2 million tons compared to 1.8 million tons in 2022. According to analysts, in 2024, LPG consumption in Kazakhstan may increase by another 200 thousand tons and reach 2.4 million tons. Satkaliyev continued by saying that the Energy Ministry had been allocating part of the LPG produced in Kazakhstan to industrial enterprises producing petrochemical products. Thus, there is a shortage of LPG, which stands at 20%—25%. According to the minister, Kazakhstan produced 1.6 million tons of LPG in 2023, and the projection for 2024 is the same: 1.6 million tons. The minister emphasized that three plants in Kazakhstan use LPG as a raw material for producing polypropylene and methyl tert-butyl ether. These projects have attracted $2.7 billion in investments and created 1.7 thousand jobs. Plans are in place for a project to produce butadiene, which will use butane from the Tengiz field as a raw material. The project will cost $1.4 billion and create 750 permanent jobs and up to 7,500 jobs in related industries. There are projects for the production of alkylate and polypropylene, which plan to invest $300 million and create 2 thousand jobs. The energy minister emphasized that implementing these important investment projects requires 345 thousand tons of LPG per year and asked the prime minister to ensure that the government prioritizes the use of LPG for the needs of the petrochemical industry.

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First Chinese Freight Train Leaves For Iran via Turkmenistan

The Iranian ambassador to China, Mohsen Bakhtiar, has announced the launch of a new freight route linking China and Iran. According to Bakhtiar, a Chinese transit train has left Xi'an for Tehran. It will arrive in the Iranian capital about ten days after departing China. The train will enter Iran through the Inche-Burun checkpoint, after passing through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Bakhtiar commented that the launch of this route is part of the Iranian embassy's efforts to strengthen the country's transit potential by ensuring the transportation of Chinese goods to West Asia and Europe.

Central Asia Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Business & Economy Business & Economy

Production of Granulated Gold and Silver Launched in Uzbekistan

On July 16, Uzbekistan’s Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex announced it would start producing gold and silver granules. The Almalyk plant will also begin production of granulated copper and plans to produce granules from other non-ferrous metals. The equipment for producing granulated gold, silver, and copper was purchased in Italy. According to the Almalyk Complex’s press service, the new products will prove convenient for jewelers. In jewelry production, losses occur during the re-melting of ingots and other means of mechanically processing metals. Gold and silver granules will reduce the cost of jewelry products and improve their quality. At a government meeting about Uzbekistan’s jewelry industry last month, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said that just 6% of the gold mined in Uzbekistan is processed within the country, and exports of finished products from gold amount to only $78 million. The president emphasized the importance of creating jewelry zones equipped to attract entrepreneurs and reviewing raw materials that are supplied to the industry. In January-March 2024, Uzbekistan exported gold worth $2.6 billion, with revenue from gold exports comprising 41.7% of the country’s total export revenue.

Central Asia International Affairs Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan International Affairs Business & Economy Kyrgyzstan Business & Economy

EDB Forecasts Slowdown in Kyrgyzstan’s Economic Growth

Analysts from the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) have updated the bank's economic forecast for Kyrgyzstan. Despite high performance in the first half of the year, the country's GDP growth may slow in the second half of this year. In the first six months of this year, the growth of the Kyrgyz economy remained at 8.1%. The majority of this growth was due to domestic trade and the construction sector (50%). However, industrial production dynamics remained restrained (0.9%) against a background of declining production in extractive industries and zero growth in manufacturing output. At the same time, production in agriculture increased by 3.3%. According to the EDB analysts, "Despite the strong performance during the first half of the year, we believe that GDP growth will slow down in the second half of 2024. The pace of consumer lending in the current year is lower than in the previous year." They also noted that real wages in the first quarter of 2024 grew by 5.3%, compared to 24% the previous year. "These factors will restrain consumer activity, which will be reflected in a slowdown in GDP growth to 5.5% by the end of this year," the EDB forecast reads.

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Kazakhstan Reports Steady Economic Growth in First Half of 2024

On July 15, the Ministry of the National Economy of Kazakhstan announced the result of the country’s economic development for the first half of 2024. In the period January-June, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 3.3%, compared to 3.2% in the same period last year. The production of goods rose by 3.6%, and the services sector grew by 3.3%. Compared to last year, the economic growth rate slowed in H1 of 2024. This was caused by the economic impact of extreme flooding during the spring, which had a limiting effect on the development of most sectors. The floods resulted in reductions in trade, transport and logistics in ten regions. Oil production also decreased by 1.6%. In the first half of this year, industrial production was one of the main engines of economic growth, the volume of which increased by 2.8%. There was steady growth in multiple sectors of industrial production. Mechanical engineering grew by 9.4%, metallurgy by 8.3%, the chemicals industry by 5.3%, pharmaceuticals by 14.8%, and the furniture industry by 28.3%. The volume of construction work also increased by 8.6%. In January-June, 4.6 million square meters of housing in new apartment complexes were commissioned, 5.9% more than in the same period last year. Agricultural production increased 3.4% in January-June, and transportation and warehousing services grew 7.3%. Investments in non-resource sectors of the economy were also on the rise. Fixed capital investment increased in the manufacturing industry (by 9.4%), information and communications (2.4-fold), scientific and technical activities (58%), transport (33.7%), education (24.1%), financial operations (22.1%), and real estate transactions (4.5%). In June, annual inflation fell to 8.4% compared to 9.5% in January. In the period January-May, Kazakhstan’s foreign trade turnover amounted to $55.3 billion. Exports grew by 1.8% to $32.5 billion, including exports of processed goods, which increased by 0.8% to $10.5 billion. Imports amounted to $22.9 billion, down 7.2%, meaning the positive trade balance was $9.6 billion, an increase of $2.3 billion or 32.4% year-on-year. Since the beginning of the year, Kazakhstan’s international reserves have also increased by $5.4 billion and exceeded $101.3 billion as of July 1. This includes the assets of the National Fund, which increased by $1.4 billion to a total of $61.4 billion. The gold and foreign currency reserves of the National Bank also increased by $4 billion to $39.9 billion.

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Henley Passport Index 2024: Kazakhstan Again the Strongest Central Asian Passport

This year's Henley Passport Index, a ranking that shows how many countries citizens of each country can visit without a visa, has been announced. The rating is compiled using information from the International Air Transport Association. It covers 199 passports and 227 countries. The Singaporean passport again takes first place in the rating. Singaporean citizens can visit 195 countries without a visa. In joint second place, able to freely enter 194 countries, are passport holders from France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. Kazakhstan ranks 67th in this year's Index: holders of a Kazakhstani passport can enter 79 countries without a visa. Next in Central Asia is Kyrgyzstan, in 78th place, whose citizens can freely visit 65 countries. Uzbekistan is 79th in the ranking (64 countries), Tajikistan is 82nd (60), and Turkmenistan is 90th (52) The world's weakest passport is the Afghan passport. Citizens of Afghanistan can only visit 28 countries without a visa.