Byelkamit: Leading Kazakhstan’s Engineering in Oil, Gas, and Beyond

Developing markets

JSC JV Byelkamit is a Kazakhstan based production company that manufactures a wide range of equipment including vessel equipment, as well as vessels working under high pressure, heat exchanging equipment and metalware for all kind of functions according to national and international standards (ASME, API, PNAE, GOST and other).

Its products are used in several industries including oil and gas enterprises as well as chemical, nuclear, energy, metallurgy, construction and food industries. The company’s history dates back to 1982 when the ‘Gidriomash’ plant was founded to construct rocket-torpedoes for the then Soviet Union. With the fall of the USSR at the end of the 1989 the Gidriomash facility remained unfinished, however due to the complex nature of the plant it had previously been staff by experienced professionals and contained equipment of robust Soviet production.

During the 1990s the requirement for the development of ordnance was no longer in place and the focus of the plant shifted to the production of civil equipment. During 1995 Byelkamit was formed within the framework of the Nunn–Lugar Co-operative Threat Reduction (CTR) programme as a joint Kazakhstan, American and Italian joint venture, with the support of the New York firm Byelocorp Scientific, Inc and with financial support from the US government. Shortly thereafter the Gidriomash facility was reoriented to produce industrial products for the oil and gas and mining industries. In September 2011 JSC JV Byelkamit, LLP AtyrauNefteMash and First Montano Technology became a single holding company named SGT Group.

Today the SGT Group is able to take advantage of the benefit of having three plants spread across Kazakhstan, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This geographical spread allows the group to remain flexible in providing complicated or large equipment orders as well as further aftersale services. Byelkamit produces non-standard technological equipment across a range of industry sectors. Commenting on the company’s production portfolio and delivery strength, general director Pavel Beklemishev says: “We produce nonstandard technological equipment in accordance with domestic and international standards, all construction documentation is designed in accordance with the client’s requirements. Sixty to 80 per cent of equipment is ordered by oil and gas companies, which order columns, reactors, tanks, separators, heat exchangers and so forth. Twenty to 30 per cent of equipment is ordered by the mining sector and ten per cent is produced for construction and other sectors.

“The convenient geographical position of all three plants will allow the group to satisfy market demand for complicated, largedimensional equipment and provide subsequent aftersale services. Co-operation and sharing of incoming orders between the plants allows us to be flexible in response to client’s needs. Additionally, the construction of a facility for the assembly of large and heavy items has started and with it the group will soon be able to supply very large products for oil and gas companies operating in western Kazakhstan and countries in the Caspian region. It will also decrease transportation costs, which will increase Byelkamit’s competitiveness.”

At present Byelkamit has an annual manufacturing capacity of around 2500 tonnes of vessels equipment and 15,000 tonnes of steel structures, including prefabricated storage tanks. Its facilities boast a general fabrication area of 11,774 hectares, which includes 44,664 m2 of covered workshops. Five hundred professional personnel staff the Byelkamit plant, including 50 ASME certified welders as well as level two and level three inspectors for nondestructive testing. Thirty per cent of the company’s employees are university graduates, three of which hold PhD qualifications.

With the formation of the SGT Group and the resulting synergy of infrastructure and personnel, Byelkamit has become a leading manufacturer in Kazakhstan and abroad. Currently the company services a number of internationally recognised companies throughout Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan including TCO, Karachaganak Petroleum Operating BV, Atyrau Oil Refinery, Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant, CNPC and Sinopec, as well as Texaco North Buzachi, Agip KCO, Arcelor Mittal and others. During June 2012 Byelkamit signed a contract for the supply of eight storage tanks comprised of six 200 m3 units and two 1500 m3 units, ordered by Worley Parsons for the Agip KCO railway project in Eskene, Kazakhstan. This sizable order was delivered in full as of November 2013.

As the company’s reputation and expertise continues to grow it is focused on expanding into further markets including Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. Kazakhstani membership of the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia has strengthened its position in export markets and this will be crucial as Kazakhstan’s position as an oil producing country continues to expand, as Pavel elaborates: “Kazakhstani membership of the Customs Union opens new possibilities for entering the Russian market and we plan to expand our exports to Russia and Belarus, moreover they are our material suppliers. By 2020, oil production in Kazakhstan could exceed 130 million tonnes and the country will be listed in the world’s top ten oil-producing countries. Within Kazakhstan, annually imported engineering products account for billions of dollars, moreover local industry extends beyond the oil and gas sector so the market is huge. We see great opportunities for market development.”

During 2013 SGT Group has been focused on developing practices to best synergise its plants to co-operate on joint projects. Development of its new facility in Atyrau is underway and will enable the company to further establish itself within Kazakhstan. As the region’s oil and gas sector becomes increasingly galvanised, Byelkamit and the wider SGT Group will work to showcase the strength of Kazakhstani engineering as Pavel concludes: “International companies actively working in the oil and gas sector of the Republic of Kazakhstan still do not believe in the possibilities of Kazakhstani producers. The company’s goal is to change this opinion and prove that it can make heavy, complex and high-quality equipment in accordance with international standards. In order do this Byelkamit will invest in new technology and further develop its staff. Working as an international holding company, we are confident that we can take a leadership position in the region and we feel that our customers believe it too.”

Byelkamit
Services: Equipment fabrication