BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 6
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
The project to expand the production capacity of Uzbekistan’s Shurtan Gas Chemical Complex will allow the production of imported polyethylene and polypropylene polymers by deep processing of 430,000 tons of synthetic NAFTA produced at the Uzbekneftegaz GTL plant, which is expected to be launched in 2021, Trend reports citing the press service of Uzbekneftegaz.
The launch of the project will allow to localize 280,000 tons of pipes, films, cast polyethylene grades and 100,000 tons of homo, cast and new grades of polypropylene for pipes worth $173.2 million. It will meet the needs of the domestic market, establish an annual production of products worth $550 million and create over 800 new jobs.
The project is being implemented on the basis of an EPC agreement with reputable companies from developed countries - the American Chevron Phillips Chemical and Chicago Bridge & Iron Company on licensed technologies, as well as the Singapore company Enter Engineering Pte. Ltd.”.
To date, the EPC contractor is carrying out detailed design work. In total, over 600 highly qualified specialists are taking part in the project.
In recent years, as a result of the daily development of the economy of Uzbekistan, the demand for polymers has sharply increased and the promising projects of Uzbekneftegaz, which are being implemented, aimed at meeting the above needs and increasing the export potential, provide for the production of high-value products with high cost from natural gas.
Analysis of polymers imported into the country in 2018 and 2019 showed that Uzbekistan imports polyethylene from Kazakhstan (81,000 tons worth $ 97.3 million) and Turkmenistan (50,000 tons worth $ 75.9 million), despite the fact that that today the enterprises of Uzbekneftegaz JSC annually produce 490,000 tons of polyethylene and 90,000 tons of polypropylene, in various types of polyethylene, as well as in the form of polypropylene granules and products.
Compared to last year, the volume of imported polyethylene increased by at least 200 percent, and the volume of polypropylene by 130 percent.
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