The foundation of a $400 million soda ash plant was laid in the south of Kazakhstan on Thursday, the Turkish Anadolu Agency reports.
Kazakhstan’s first soda ash plant will be built by the Turkish Yildirim Holding in Sarysu district of Zhambyl region.
Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony, Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of Kazakhstan Beibut Atamkulov said the new plant will become the country's first production facility built according to the Industry 4.0 model using non-waste technologies.
The capacity of the enterprise will be 400 thousand tons of sada ash per year. The chemical plant will also produce 500 thousand tons of crude calcium chloride and 100 thousand tons of salt. The start of production is scheduled for 2024.
The plant will export its products to Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, according to the report.
The project owner is Qazaq Soda LLP, a subsidiary of Yildirim Holding.
Soda ash is mainly used in the glass, metallurgical, textile and chemical industries