Uzbekistan significantly reduced its natural gas exports to China in February 2024, announced the General Customs Administration of China, UzDaily reports.
In February, Uzbek gas deliveries to China decreased by more than half, from $38.77 million to $18.6 million. This is nearly $20.2 million or 52% less than in February 2023, Chinese customs officials noted.
However, the Uzbekistan State Statistics Agency stated that in January-February 2024, the export of natural gas from Uzbekistan amounted to $26.7 million, which is 3.6 times higher than the export volume for the same period of the previous year.
This is $19.3 million or 260% more than in the first two months of 2023.
Meanwhile, the Chinese company "China Mining Energy Group" intends to invest $200 million in a mining project in Uzbekistan.
The company plans to organize the extraction and processing of copper ore in the Chust district of the Namangan region of Uzbekistan, said a representative of the Chinese company, Liu Fang Yuan.
Chinese specialists will arrive in Uzbekistan in April to conduct geological exploration work on copper deposits in the Chust district.
After completing this phase, the Chinese side will begin attracting investments to implement the project.
The planned production capacity of the mining enterprise is 30,000 tons of copper per year, which will replenish the state budget of Uzbekistan by 121 billion soums ($9.6 million). The implementation of the investment program will also create 420 new jobs.
The presentation of projects by China Mining Energy Group took place on March 25 during a meeting with the President of Uzbekistan. Seventeen projects totaling $2 billion in various sectors, including mining, construction, electrical engineering, chemical industry, textiles, food, pharmaceuticals, medicine, and fisheries, were presented to the head of state.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
March 28, 2024