Kazakhstan is planning to launch two plants that will convert coal into diesel fuel, Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov said at a recent cabinet meeting.
Coal-to-chemicals projects expand
According to Akkenzhenov, three major coal chemical industry projects are currently underway. These include:
- A metallurgical coke plant in the Karaganda region with a capacity of 1 million tons, valued at $132 million and expected to create up to 500 jobs.
- Two coal-to-diesel plants in the Pavlodar and Karaganda regions, each with a capacity of 100,000 tons. The projects are valued at $63 million and $65 million and are expected to create 1,160 and 1,250 jobs, respectively.
Leveraging large coal reserves
Kazakhstan holds an estimated 33 billion tons of coal reserves, enough to last more than 300 years at current production levels. Authorities are increasingly looking to expand value-added processing, including coal-to-chemicals, rather than relying solely on raw exports.
Domestic use and exports
Most coal produced in Kazakhstan is consumed domestically, primarily in power generation, utilities and industry. In the past year, 85.9 million tons were used for internal needs, while exports totaled about 30 million tons.
Key export markets include Russia, Poland, Uzbekistan, Turkey, India and Malaysia.
