Kazakhstan’s largest petrochemical project: first piles driven for polyethylene plant in Atyrau

The first piles were driven into the foundation of the future Silleno polyethylene plant within the Special Economic Zone "National Industrial Oil and Gas Chemical Technopark" in Atyrau region.

The grand construction project was launched by Serik Shapkenov, akim of Atyrau region, Askhаt Khasenov, Chairman of the Board of JSC NC "KazMunayGas" (KMG), Kudaibergen Arymbek, Vice Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan, Pavel Lyakhovich, Member of the Management Board and Managing Director of SIBUR, and Wan Tao, Senior Vice President of Sinopec.

The construction of the plant, which has a capacity of 1.25 million tons of polyethylene per year and an investment of approximately 7 billion US dollars, is expected to be completed by 2028, with production set to begin in 2029. Silleno will become one of the largest projects in Kazakhstan's manufacturing industry.

The plant will be capable of producing over 20 different grades of polyethylene used in key industrial sectors.

The project will have a multiplicative positive effect on the national economy starting from the construction phase and will contribute to the growth of Kazakhstan's non-resource exports. Silleno products will play a vital role in substituting polyethylene imports, allowing for the replacement of about 90% of the imported range. According to the data of the Bureau of National Statistics of the RK, in 2024, the polyethylene market in Kazakhstan was approximately 300 thousand tons, and experts estimate it could grow to 400 thousand tons by 2035. Most of the polyethylene demand from Kazakh consumers will be met by Silleno supplies.

The plant’s launch will create around 8,000 jobs during the construction phase and 800 jobs after production begins.

The ethane feedstock for polyethylene production will be extracted at the KMG Gas Separation Complex from gas fields operated by Tengizchevroil and delivered to Silleno via a main pipeline, which will also be constructed by KMG.

The future complex will include the construction of a steam cracker for ethylene production using Lummus Technology (USA), ethylene polymerization units based on Chevron Phillips Chemical (USA) and Univation Technologies (USA) technologies, as well as a butene unit utilizing Axens technology (France).

The technological solutions from global leaders in the petrochemical industry will ensure the safety of the new production, guaranteeing not only high reliability but also minimal environmental impact.

The first preparatory work at the site began with the steam cracker, for which the EPC contractor is Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain) in consortium with Sinopec Engineering Incorporation (China).