The chemical industry: trends and opportunities
According to Kairbek Uskenbayev, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the chemical industry has entered the top five manufacturing sectors that are most important for the development of import substitution in our country. The chemical industry ranks second in terms of total imports, after machinery products. Given the annually growing export volumes of Kazakhstani chemical industry products, the volume of chemical imports into our country is three times greater. Based on the results of last year, these figures amounted to 1.06 billion and 3.2 billion US dollars, respectively.
Drawing1 – Export and import of the chemical industry
The country's economy, according to experts JSC "QazIndustry" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, first of all, needs a sustainable, independent of external factors production of soda ash and caustic soda, potash fertilizers, carbamide and sodium cyanide, which Kazakhstani enterprises consume in significant quantities.
The current situation in the industry. Over the past ten years, our country has built a solid foundation for the chemical industry. The range of chemical products manufactured has expanded: the country has begun producing polypropylene, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid, shampoos, cosmetic products, and much more. The chemical industry can be considered one of those rare sectors whose performance was positively affected by the coronavirus pandemic. According to data from the Statistics Committee of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, between January and December 2020 — the first year of the pandemic — the volume of chemical production increased to a record level and amounted to 476.2 billion tenge in value terms.
In 2021, the largest share of industry production was accounted for by the “chemicals for industry” sector – 65.4%. Agrochemicals are also a driver of industry growth in Kazakhstan – 22.1%. Next are “basic petrochemicals” – 11.5%, and “other chemicals” – 0.9%.Drawing
2 – Chemical industry production
Industry experts at JSC “QazIndustry” note the great potential of consumer chemicals. Supermarket shelves are actively being replenished with a domestic range of household chemicals and cosmetic products.
They produce solid laundry soap, liquid soap, organic surfactants, industrial cleaning agents, washing powders, shampoos, kitchen and cleaning detergents, dry‑cleaning agents, disinfectants, and personal hygiene products. The volume of investments in the chemical industry is steadily growing every year. Since the start of the second five‑year plan, in 2015, the amount of annual investments has increased 8.3‑fold. In 2021, 462.6 billion tenge was invested in the development of the industry.
They produce solid laundry soap, liquid soap, organic surfactants, industrial cleaning agents, washing powders, shampoos, kitchen and cleaning detergents, dry‑cleaning agents, disinfectants, and personal hygiene products. The volume of investments in the chemical industry is steadily growing every year. Since the start of the second five‑year plan, in 2015, the amount of annual investments has increased 8.3‑fold. In 2021, 462.6 billion tenge was invested in the development of the industry.