Head of State visits Qarmet Metallurgical Plant

Karaganda region, Temirtau

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s business trip to the Karaganda region began with a visit to the Qarmet Metallurgical Plant in Temirtau.

The President was briefed on the operation of Blast Furnace No. 3, which produces 3.8 million tons of cast iron per year.

Andrey Lavrentyev, Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC “Qarmet” and General Director of Vadim Basin Enterprise reported on the projects implemented and being implemented for the development of production. More than $3.5 billion has been allocated for this purpose. In addition, investments of about $500 million are planned in the coal sector, and about $978 million in iron ore projects.

The company is carrying out a large-scale repair of buildings and facilities. This year’s modernization program includes more than 100 facilities. 50,000 square meters of roofs are being replaced. In addition, 120 sanitary and living buildings are being repaired under the “cleaning” program.

The head of state briefed on the operation of the No. 2 converter shop, which produces slabs and blooms, and the continuous casting machine for metal products. The enterprise management said that the main task today is to maintain the technical state of the machinery, improve the repair system, as well as the crystallization cycle system and all machine parts. The control and hydraulic systems will be modernized next year.

Andrei Lavrentiev said that the implementation of the project stabilized the work of the plant and made it possible to implement the company’s “5-9-5” plan. According to the formulated strategy, the enterprise plans to produce 5 million tons of steel, 9 million tons of coal and 5 million tons of iron ore concentrate by 2028. Compared with the figures for 2023, the average growth is 66%.

The head of state noted that the decision to switch the plant to natural gas was an important one. This will reduce environmental damage by 30% in the initial stage. This autumn, an environmentally friendly means of transport will be restored in Temirtau – the tram line.

The President stressed the need to strictly adhere to deadlines and high quality standards for projects implemented in the areas of industrial safety, increasing production efficiency and modernization, and improving regional environmental conditions, and put forward a series of specific tasks.

– We made the right decision by inviting domestic investors. They immediately got down to business. The situation at the plant has improved significantly compared to before. But we should not stop there. The most important task is to restore the Qarmet enterprise to its former glory and emphasize solving social problems. Work in this regard has already begun. I know this. I visit the plant every year and get to know its development,” said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Currently, JSC “Qarmet” has more than 34,000 workers. The production capacity of the metallurgical plant is 5.3 million tons of steel per year. Last year, the company produced 2.9 million tons of finished products. 2.1 million tons of them were exported to Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

The head of state then visited the Qarmet Creative Technology Center, which has become a meeting place for active and creative young people in the Metallurgical City.

Almas Siranov, Director of Non-archival Asset Management of Qarmet JSC, informed the President that creative circles such as robotics, car modeling, drone section, programming, bloggers, journalism, documentary school, podcast studio, etc. have been opened in the center. According to him, the center will become a landmark not only of the metallurgical plant, but also of the city of Temirtau. Here, young people receive professional guidance and improve their engineering skills.

In conversations with corporate workers, veterans and union representatives, the president noted that workers deserve the highest respect and that the country is doing everything it can to improve their well-being.