The total capacity of the batteries will be 1.5 million tonnes of dry coke per year, with commissioning planned for 2027. This will give the country its first coal chemical complex for deep processing of coking products, Akorda reported.

The gist in brief

• The new coke batteries No. 8 and No. 9 will replace outdated capacity built in the 1960s-1970s.
• The total design capacity of the two batteries is 1.5 million tonnes of dry coke per year, each with 54 ovens with chamber heights of 7.6 m.
• Commissioning of the batteries is planned for 2027.
• The project cost is cited differently in various materials: from $435 million to $639 million.

What is being built in Temirtau

The project is among Qarmet's largest investment initiatives. Coke capacity of this scale has not been built at the plant for several decades. The general technology partner is the Chinese company ACRE Coking & Refractory Engineering Consulting Corporation.

Each of the two batteries will include 54 coke ovens with chambers 7.6 m high. The President was told that the new units will improve the reliability of supplying blast furnace production with its own coke, stabilize its quality and raise the level of environmental safety. Coke is a basic component of blast furnace production.

What will be replaced and when

The new batteries will replace outdated ones. According to Zakon.kz, these are batteries No. 1-4, which have been operating since the 1960s and have exhausted their service life. They are planned to be decommissioned in stages, after the new capacity reaches its design parameters.

Construction is underway: by July, more than 11,800 m³ of concrete had been poured at the site and more than 1,600 tonnes of rebar installed, with the rebar produced at Qarmet itself. Then laying of the ovens of battery No. 8 began. According to the same publication, the company plans to launch it in November 2027; the commissioning date for battery No. 9 is not given there.

How much the project costs

There is no single figure. In April 2025, the upgrade of the coke chemical production was estimated at $369 million. In February 2026, Forbes.kz cited the project cost at $435 million: the Development Bank of Kazakhstan issued a $337 million loan for it in yuan for 13 years. In April 2026, Tengrinews and Forbes.kz wrote about a total of $639 million including the coal chemical direction. Akorda's statement does not give a sum.

What is known about the coal chemical complex

Akorda calls the future complex the country's first coal chemical one for deep processing of coking products. But which products will be obtained, in what volume and when this direction will be launched is not stated in the report. Nor is it in the materials found, so we cannot yet assess the scale of the coal chemical part.

What else was shown to the President at Qarmet

On the same day, Tokayev familiarized himself with the operation of the converter shop, the key link in steelmaking: he was shown how liquid pig iron from the blast furnace is processed into steel, which then goes to continuous casting machines and rolling operations. In 2024, converters No. 1 and No. 2 underwent major repairs with complete replacement of their shells. According to Akorda, the modernization will expand the product range, increase steel output and improve equipment reliability, while a number of technological processes continue to be converted to natural gas.

Qarmet Chairman of the Board of Directors Andrey Lavrentyev reported that by the end of 2026 the company plans to produce 4 million tonnes of steel, 3.6 million tonnes of coal concentrate and 3.9 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate. Since the company began operations, investments have exceeded $2.7 billion.

What else is being built in metallurgy

Shortly before this, the President was involved in another metallurgical project. On October 20, Tokayev via teleconference gave the start to construction of the Aktogay copper smelter in the Abai region. The plant will produce 300,000 tonnes of cathode copper per year, as well as gold and sulfuric acid. The project cost is $1.8 billion. The first cathode, according to hunn.kz, is expected in 2030.

In his Address, the President expressed doubt about plans to open metallurgical plants in three more regions, even though a major producer like Qarmet already operates in the country. The main question, according to him, is whether the products of these enterprises will be in demand on the market.

Author's conclusion

The main point of the news is not the chemistry but the coke: the new batteries are needed so that Qarmet's blast furnace production receives its own coke of stable quality instead of the worn-out 1960s batteries. The coal chemical complex so far remains a big name without a list of products, volumes or timeline. The cost is also insufficiently clear: from $435 million to $639 million. Until the company states what is included in each figure, they cannot be compared.