Uzbekistan develops potash fertilizer industry

Russian company Western Ural Machine Building Concern (WUMBC, Perm city) has put into operation a mining complex at the Tyubegatan potassium salts deposit in the Kashkadarya region in southern Uzbekistan. The $56 million worth plant will begin to work at full capacity by the summer 2010.

Late in December, the Russian company completed the construction of the first shaft and mined the first ton of ore from the field.

Early in 2008, the WUMBC and Chinese CITIC Pacific Ltd. signed contracts worth $99.9 million with Uzbekistan's Uzkhimprom company on a turnkey construction of the Dekhkanabad potash fertilizer plant in the Kashkadarya region on the grounds of the Tyubegatan field, TCA reported.

Under the contract, the Chinese company will build a processing complex worth $43.9 million and the Russian company a mining complex worth $56 million.

Full capacity of the plant worth $123.7 million will be 200,000 tons of products per year. The full commissioning is scheduled for July 2010.

Construction is financed through a loan worth $62 million issued by Uzbekistan's Fund for Reconstruction and Development, a $41.7 million loan from the Chinese Eximbank, and through Uzkhimprom's own funds worth $20 million.

The Tyubegatan potassium salts deposit in Kashkadarya region is located on the border with Turkmenistan. The field's reserves total 400.2 million tons of ore with 36.8 percent of potassium chloride content. The largest part of the deposit with reserves of 200 million tons of ore is located in Uzbekistan.

The development of potash production in Uzbekistan will allow Uzkhimprom not only meet the country's needs for potash fertilizers (approximately 70,000 tons per year), but also export part of its products to Central Asian countries and China.

The future of the potash industry is very promising as there are a few potassium ore deposits in the world. That is why the number of producers of potash fertilizers is small - seven leading manufacturers produce more than 90 percent of the world's potassium fertilizers.

Considering these circumstances, in 2012-2014 Uzkhimprom is planning to build the second production unit of the Dekhkanabad potash fertilizer plant worth $250 million. The new facility will allow doubling the production of potash fertilizers to 400,000 tons per year.

According to experts, German, Israeli and Arab producers of potash fertilizers have no technical capacity to expand: the Germans have problems with raw material reserves and high production costs, and the Israelis and Arabs extract potassium salt from the Dead Sea, the technology that does not allow production growth.

UzReport.com

02.10.2009

Navoiazot exports production worth $33 million to foreign markets Navoiazot, one of the country's largest chemical enterprises, has exceeded the forecast parameters for the three quarters of 2009.

The launch of the nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizer facility was an important event in the life of the enterprise this year, UzA reported.

Ammonium sulfate and ammonia water produced here are sent to agricultural enterprises. The company also produces chemicals required for gold complexes.

Serious attention is paid to the efficient use of production capacities and introduction of energy-efficient, environmentally safe and highly-productive technologies, as well as expanding production of competitive chemical products.

"Upgrading the outdated equipment has helped us improve economic figures," said deputy chairman of Navoiazot Nusrat Soliyev. "According to the modernization program, 14 projects are scheduled, most of which have already been implemented."

Thanks to gradual improvement of the quality of products, the number of foreign customers is growing. Ammonium nitrate, nitronic fiber, acetic acid, methanol and chlorine are exported to Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

In the first half of this year, production worth $33 million exported to foreign markets.

Currently, the company plans to build a facility for production of 50,000 tons of PVC and 32,000 tons of caustic soda.

UzReport.com