Kazakhstan increased steel production by 6.4% m/m in April

In April 2023, steelmakers of Kazakhstan increased steel production by 6.4% m/m – up to 358.94 thousand tons. This is evidenced by Bureau of National Statistics’ data, reports Kallanish. Compared to April 2022, steel production increased by 0.7% in this period.

In January-April 2024, steel production in Kazakhstan fell by 11.3% y/y – to 1.28 million tons.

The production of flat products in April increased by 19% compared to the same period last year – up to 223.03 thousand tons. Compared to March, this figure increased by 4.6%. In January-April, the volumes of rolled products production decreased by 3.2% y/y – to 862.91 thousand tons.

In 2022, steel enterprises of Kazakhstan reduced steel production by 8.5% y/y – to 4.13 million tons. Production of flat products over the past year decreased by 15.1% compared to 2021 – to 2.5 million tons.

In January, the government of Kazakhstan stated that it will support the development of domestic steel industry. In particular, in the coming years, the government plans to implement measures to expand the country’s mineral resource base and introduce a single online platform for mining companies, as well as increase processing capacity. New projects are planned to be exempt from taxes to encourage investment.

In 2023, the country plans to start construction three steel enterprises. Investments in plants that will produce galvanized steel and pipes will amount to $478 million.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in May 2023 Kazakhstan extended the ban on export of ferrous scrap for another 6 months. According to Worldsteel, the country exported 125,000 tons of scrap in 2021, compared to 441,000 tons in 2020 and 1 million tons in 2019.