Kazakhstan could attract between $10 billion and $12 billion in investment for copper and aluminium processing projects, a deputy minister of the national economy has told the country’s Senate, highlighting a structural weakness in which the overwhelming majority of the country’s copper leaves the country in raw or minimally processed form.
Deputy Minister Arman Kasenov told senators that copper ranks second only to gold in terms of importance and value-added potential within Kazakhstan’s metallurgical sector — yet up to 97% of the metal extracted is currently exported either without processing or after only primary treatment. He said investment in the copper segment alone could exceed $5 to $6 billion, with priority directions including the production of ultra-thin copper foil, a material in high demand for battery and electric vehicle manufacturing.
Kasenov said Kazakhstan has the conditions to establish at least one large modern copper smelting plant, either through domestic companies or in partnership with credible international players. The statement aligns with the government’s broader push to move from a raw material export model toward domestic value-added industrial production.
On aluminium, the deputy minister highlighted a similar processing gap. Kazakhstan currently produces alumina from bauxite, but only one third of that alumina is converted into primary aluminium at ERG’s Pavlodar plant, which is already operating at full capacity. The remaining two thirds of Kazakhstani alumina is exported. Expanding domestic alumina-to-aluminium conversion would open opportunities for the production of aluminium wire, cable, rolled products and other downstream goods. Kasenov estimated the investment required for such expansion at more than $5 to $6 billion — a figure consistent with the scale of the East Hope Group’s proposed $12.6 billion full-cycle aluminium project in Kostanai Region currently under discussion with the government.
