An asphalt concrete plant with a capacity of 280 tonnes per hour is nearing completion in Zhanaozen, in the Mangystau Region. Construction is scheduled to finish in 2026, with full commissioning planned for 2027, according to a statement on the planned activity by the project's initiator, ASK Group Aktau, reports infohub.kz.
"The project provides for the construction of a fully factory-assembled asphalt mixing unit with a capacity of 280 t/h. One DS-168637 asphalt mixing unit is intended for the preparation of asphalt concrete mixes used in road and other types of construction," the Mangystau Region Ecology Department said in its conclusion following a review of the documents submitted by the company in May.
The plant is being built in a subzone of Zhanaozen on an area of 2.5 hectares. According to the company, the distance from the facility to the residential area exceeds 5 km. Construction of the asphalt plant will take six months. Operation is scheduled to begin in 2027, with decommissioning in 2050.
The facility will allow for rapid changes to the mix formula and a full cycle of technological operations, from the initial screening of oversized raw materials (crushed stone, sand and screenings) to fine gas purification with bag filters. The heated materials will be sorted into 5–6 fractions, temporarily stored in a hot bin, batched and fed into the mixer.
Commissioning the plant will place additional demand on energy resources. In particular, the drying drum motor will have a capacity of 45 kW, the bitumen bin mixer 55 kW, the elevator 15 kW and the belt conveyor 5.5 kW. Gas consumption at the asphalt plant's burner will be 12 cubic metres per tonne of product.
The Aktau seaport has said that the ASK Group Aktau asphalt plant will be located in suburb No. 14 of the special economic zone. The company has been allocated 5 hectares for the project. Investment in the project will total 300 million tenge. Once launched, the plant will employ 15 people.
The plant will use bitumen to produce road materials. The largest bitumen producer in the region and in Kazakhstan as a whole is the Aktau joint venture Kaspi Bitum, owned by KazMunayGas (50%) and China's CITIC Group (50%). In 2025, Kaspi Bitum completed the modernisation of its bitumen plant, which runs on oil from the Karazhanbas field, increasing capacity to 1.5 million tonnes of oil, or 750,000 tonnes of bitumen per year (previously 1 million tonnes and 500,000 tonnes respectively).
The sole owner of the Aktau-registered company ASK Group Aktau is Aqerke Qaragulova. She also owns the sole proprietorship Saulem in Aktau. According to the State Revenue Committee, ASK Group Aktau paid 6.2 million tenge in taxes in 2026 (it paid no taxes in 2024–2025).