Turkmenistan keen to become major exporter of chemicals
By Fatma Babayeva
Turkmenistan can become a powerful industrial power and a major exporter of chemical products, the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.
The construction of a gas chemical complex on the Caspian Sea shore, exactly in the village Kiyanly in Balkan province of Turkmenistan, will facilitate this goal, the newspaper wrote.
This complex will process hydrocarbon gases, ensure the production of various advanced chemical products and increase export potential of the country.
The gas-chemical complex is designed to process 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas for the production of 386,000 tons of polyethylene and 81,000 tons of polypropylene per year. The project is implemented jointly with Japanese consortium TOYO, LG and the Hyundai (South Korea).
The total cost of construction is $3.4 billion.
This project involves the world's leading technology companies in chemical industry and gas processing, such as TOYO (Japan), INEOS (UK), LUMMUS (USA), GRACE (US).
The largest enterprise of gas chemical industry in the country will be launched in late 2018.
The contractors plan to implement main part of the construction works (up to 80 percent) during this year.
The newspaper writes that all stages of processing such as cleaning, fractional separation, thermal cracking and polymerization of olefins from natural gas.
The completion of the industrial complex will create around 1,000 new jobs.
Products manufactured at this complex such as polyethylene with high density and polypropylene are the raw materials for the production of plastic goods that are used in food, medical and many other industries.
Overall, Turkmenistan plans to construct 10 new industrial facilities, engaged in the production of 17 processed products.
Almost all gas chemical and gas processing plants which are under construction or planned to be constructed in Turkmenistan are export-oriented.
With more complex processing of natural gas, Turkmenistan will significantly strengthen its position in the market of gas and chemical products increase share of its products in export.
Natural gas, which still remains one of the most environmentally friendly energy resources in the 21st century, has become a valuable source of chemical raw material during the past decade.
Given this fact, Turkmenistan pays special attention to the development of gas and gas-chemical industry.
Turkmenistan is one of the key players in the energy market of the resource-rich Caspian region. It produces about 70-80 billion cubic meters of gas a year.
The country also extracts about 10 million tons of oil a year, a significant part of which is processed in local refineries.
At present, domestic products are exported to more than 40 world countries including Turkey, China, Russia, UAE, Iran, Germany, U.S., UK, Ukraine, and Switzerland.
The country plans to bring its oil refining industry capacity up to 20 million tons in 2020, 22 million tons in 2025, and 30 million tons in 2030.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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