Turkmenistan has become one of the largest suppliers of polyethylene to the Russian Federation. The products of the new gas chemical complex in Kiyanly were first put up for sale through the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan last fall and prompted great interest among representatives of Russian business circles.
According to experts, it led to the rapid growth of imports of low-density polyethylene in the Russian Federation. During the four months of 2019, it reached a record level of almost 108 thousand tons. This is 27 thousand tons more than in the same period of 2018.
The top five countries in terms of supply of these products include Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Finland, South Korea and Thailand.
Russian entrepreneurs are purchasing high-density polyethylene intended for the manufacture of water and gas pipes, as well as for the production of household and technical items.
The demand for Turkmen polypropylene also remains high. In recent years, Turkmenistan has been the leader in supplying this type of polymer to the Russian market, leaving Germany, South Korea, Finland, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Austria, Uzbekistan, Italy, the Netherlands, and China behind.
According to the Federal Customs Service of Russia, plastic products ranks first in the list of goods imported from Turkmenistan. The total cost of polymers supplied to the Russian Federation from Turkmenistan in the first quarter of 2019 is more than $18 million. This is 78 percent more than in the same period last year. Compared with the first quarter of 2017, the volume of polymer supplies to the Russian market increased by more than 5 times.
This major investment project in Kiyanly, worth $3.4 billion, was carried out by Korean and Japanese companies and was commissioned in October 2018. The production capacity of the complex makes it possible to process 5 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
At this large enterprise equipped with advanced technologies, it is possible to annually produce 386 thousand tons of high-quality polyethylene and 81 thousand tons of polypropylene. Over a thousand new jobs were created at the plant.
