Uzbekistan Plans €3.8b Chemical Complex

Uzbekistan is planning to establish a major gas chemical complex at the heart of what will be Central Asia’s biggest technological cluster to supply polymers to more than 10 local plastics processing plants. In a bid to take its energy sector to a new level, the former Commonwealth of Independent State aims, with foreign assistance, to construct the new unit which will have a 1.3-1.5 billion cubic meters of gas processing capacity. It is scheduled to use the methanol to olefins technology, Plastic News Europe reported.

The cluster, using the methanol to olefins technology, is expected to have a capacity to turn out up to 250,000 tons per annum of polypropylene, 100,000 tons per year of polyethylene terephthalate and ethylene vinyl acetate, 100,000–150,000 tons per annum of ethylene glycol and polyethylene and 100,000 tons of ethylene-propylene elastomer every year.

The €3.85 billion project, still in the early stages of planning, is being led by the country’s oil and gas industry state-owned holding Uzbekneftegaz.

“At present, Uzbekneftegaz, jointly with foreign partners, has begun working on a project to create a technological cluster, building a modern gas chemical complex and developing related industries aimed at producing high added value products,” explained the company’s first deputy chairman, Ulugbek Sayyidov. Sayyidov noted that Uzbekistan is ready to invest its own funds in 30% of the project and 70% will come from foreign investments, credits and loans.