Kazakhstan - Other Industries.

Kazakhstan has the potential to develop one of the biggest industrial bases in Asia. It possesses huge reserves of key mineral resources.

Industrial production, having declined since the collapse of the Soviet Union, is picking up with foreign investment beginning to show results. In the long-term, provided there is political stability, the prospects would be bright.

Multinationals are moving into virtually every manufacturing sector in Kazakhstan which is profitable and has the potential of becoming even more profitable. Existing industries in which they are interested range from steel to soft-drinks. Most of them have been built by the Soviets.

Existing industries include plants processing iron ore, manganese, chromite, lead, zinc, copper, titanium, bauxite, gold, silver, phosphates, aluminium and sulphur. Soviet-era facilities produce iron and steel items and nonferrous metal. Some are being upgraded by foreign partners.

Alyumini Kazakhstan, the top alumina producer created in 1996 by a merger of the Soviet-era Pavlodar aluminium plant with three bauxite mining sites and a local IPP, has raised its capacity of 1.2m t/y from 1m t/y. It exports most of its output to the Bratsk and Sayansk smelters in Siberia.

Kazzinc is the top producer of precious and rare metals, including a variety of lead, calcium babbits, zinc products, zinc-aluminium alloys, gold, silver, indium, thallium, etc.

Factories produce automobiles, tractors and other agricultural machinery, electric motors, construction materials, etc.