Turkmenistan has reportedly set the ball rolling for an all-new chemicals plant, for an apparent valuation of over USD 3 billion. According to authentic reports, the construction of the chemicals plant seems to be a conjoined effort, with Japan’s procurement and construction firm TOYO Engineering Corp., and South Korea’s prominent construction company Hyundai Engineering and LG International having teamed up for the same.
If sources familiar with the knowledge of the matter are to be believed, the decision to construct a chemicals plant by Turkmenistan seems to have come on the heels of reducing the country’s extensive dependency on gas exports. For the record, the Central Asian nation has in recent years become an increasingly gas-dependent economy, having been hit hard by a slack in gas export revenue.
The chemical plant, as per reliable sources, seems to be situated along the shores of the reputed endorheic basin – the Caspian Sea. Reports claim that the plant will be processing natural gas as feedstock, and has been touted to produce polypropylene – up to a capacity of 81,000 tons per year, as well as polyethylene – up to a mammoth annual capacity of 386,000 tons.
For the uninitiated, Turkmenistan is renowned to house the world’s fourth-biggest reserves of natural gas. Sources close to the development affirm that plant will be exporting the manufactured polyethylene and polypropylene via a new naval port situated on the Caspian coast.
While the South Korean companies Hyundai Engineering and LG International, in tandem with the Japanese firm TOYO Engineering Corp. have undertaken most of the plant’s financing, authentic reports claim that the Turkmen government has also taken on approximately 15% of the expenditure for the plant’s construction.
For the record, Turkmenistan’s revenue from gas exports have depicted a major fall Russia had stopped purchasing its gas, plausibly over a dispute on pricing. However, it has been speculated that Russia is all set to restart its gas purchases next year on.
