Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 18
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
Aktau bitumen plant which was launched in Kazakhstan in December 2013, exceeded its design capacity, Kazinform reported.
In August, the plant reached the production capacity, and in September the plant reached 110 percent of the design capacity.
"We can produce 400,000 metric tons of oxidized bitumen and 120,000 metric tons of modified bitumen. Modification works were completed in September," the chief engineer of Caspian Bitumen Arman Tohbaev said.
The plant has produced and sold 140,000 metric tons of bitumen since the beginning of 2014. Next year the plant will start production of the modified bitumen with improved frost resistance and wear resistance which will increases the service life of the pavement by 2.5 times. It will be the first plan producing the bitumen of such quality in Kazakhstan.
The plant was build to meet the demand of Kazakhstan for the most important road material. The country consumes about 600,000 metric tons of bitumen per year.
"Kazakhstan has been implementing a number of transport projects in recent years. One of them is "Western Europe - Western China" international transit corridor. Bitumen consumption is growing, so we are in high need of the plant," said Deputy General Director on commercial issues of the plant Rollan Sarsenbek said.
Aktau bitumen plant has a year-round cycle of bitumen production. However road construction work is not carried in Kazakhstan in winter and the plant plans to export all the bitumen produced in this period.
Edited by S.I.