Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 15

By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:

Italy’s Danieli company is discussing a project to build a metallurgical plant in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Trend reports referring to the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan (UIET).

The parties agreed on the possibilities of executing the investment project for the construction of a steel-smelting enterprise in Turkmenistan, taking into account the volumes of raw iron ore materials and the analysis of its structural components.

The Italian company specializes in the extraction of iron ore, smelting iron and steel, the production of final products, and the construction of iron and steel works.

As was reported earlier, a large iron ore deposit of about 70-75 million tons was found in the Chagyl deposit in western Turkmenistan. According to specialists, iron ore contains 20 percent of iron. The UIET informed Italian businessmen about local projects of entrepreneurs aimed at the development of rich natural resources of the country, the creation of modern high-tech industries for their processing, and the expansion of the range of building materials based on local raw materials.

"The use of local raw materials - iron ore - in production of high-strength brands of cement will allow saving about $10 million annually," the report says.

It was also noted that if a metallurgical plant with a capacity of one million tons of iron per year is built on the Gyzylgaya area, the reserves of easily enriched ore of the deposit will last for a century.

The priority direction of the construction materials industry is the production of cement in Turkmenistan. The country’s factories produce Portland cement, which is used in the construction of multi-storey buildings and other facilities in the seismic zone. Turkmenistan also produced oil-well packing cement for the oil and gas industry and sulphate resistant cement used in the laying of foundations, construction of bridge piers and other hydro-technical structures.