Launch of New Cement Plant in Kazakhstan Delayed

The launch of a new cement plant in the Almaty region of the Republic of Kazakhstan was postponed to March 2020 instead of December 2019. According to regional akimat [state regional administration], investments will amount to about 50 billion tenge (124 million dollars).

The construction works of the Kyzylzhar cement plant started in May 2018. Now the facility is 97% ready. Grinding facilities, raw materials warehouses (limestone, clay, sandstone, gypsum, slag and iron ore), homogenization silos, as well as a 25 MW electrical substation were built.

The investor is Alacem — the Kazakh-Singaporean company, founded by a prominent Kazakhstani businessman Nurzhan Shakirov. The most significant asset under his management is Air Kazakhstan airlines company. The share of foreign capital in Alacem is 40%.

The construction of a cement plant in Kyzylzhar is ongoing on a 40-hectare site leased from the regional akimat. According to the deputy director of Alacem Stanislav Shcherbakov, 125 engineers from China and about 100 local workers operate at the construction site. Chinese experts are also responsible for pre-commissioning activities.

The plant plans to produce 1.2 million tons of cement per year. The plant is going to sell 80% of its products in the domestic market of Kazakhstan, primarily in the Almaty region and 20% in the countries of Central Asia, Mongolia, and China.

“The tax revenues expected to be over 2 billion tenge (over 5.2 million dollars) a year. Around 386 jobs will be available for local specialists, and 300 more jobs will open to ensure the maintenance of the plant operation, and sales of finished products,” the akimat reported.

Alacem plant is included in the state support program ‘The regional industrialization roadmap for 2015-2019’. The project was initially expected to be completed by the summer of 2019.

The latest cement plant commissioned in Kazakhstan is an enterprise in the Shieli district of the Kyzylorda region. It has a capacity of 1 million tons of Portland cement. The investor was China Gezhouba Group Cement.