Kazakhstan is moving to let road bitumen leave the Eurasian Economic Union. On October 19 the Energy Ministry posted a draft order on the Open Legal Acts portal that would take petroleum bitumen (EAEU commodity code 2713 20 000 0) off the list of products barred from export outside the bloc's customs territory. Public comments are open until November 4. If adopted, refineries could sell surplus bitumen to non-EAEU buyers during the off-season, when road building slows down.
The current ban sits in Energy Minister's Order No. 175-n/k of April 30, 2026, registered with the Justice Ministry on May 4 (No. 38630). Its second clause prohibits exports outside the EAEU customs territory from July 1 to December 31, 2026 of light distillates, jet kerosene and diesel, gasoils, toluene, xylene and petroleum bitumen. Shipments of bitumen to EAEU members such as Russia or Kyrgyzstan are not covered. The draft touches bitumen only; the other products stay restricted.
The ministry's explanatory note makes three points. Demand for road bitumen is seasonal, domestic producers have idle capacity, and refineries need steady throughput. The draft also cites item 2.1.1 of the minutes of Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov's working trip to the Mangystau region on July 23, 2026 (No. 11-09/09-203).
The numbers behind it: according to the Energy Ministry, Kazakhstan has four bitumen plants with combined capacity of about 1.6 million tonnes a year, while domestic demand in 2026 is around 1.1 million tonnes. Subtracting one from the other leaves roughly 0.5 million tonnes on paper. Treat that as a rough ceiling, not a forecast; actual export volumes depend on plant utilization, feedstock and seasonal stocks.
Aktau, the Mangystau regional capital, is home to Caspi Bitum, a 50/50 joint venture between national oil company KMG and CITIC Kazakhstan, part of China's CITIC Group. The plant refines crude from the Karazhanbas field. CITIC Construction, as general contractor, upgraded it between November 2024 and April 2025, lifting crude throughput from 1 million to 1.5 million tonnes a year and bitumen output capacity from 500,000 to 750,000 tonnes. KMG says that, together with the Pavlodar petrochemical plant, its bitumen capacity now totals 1.2 million tonnes a year.
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Selling it has been harder. In September 2025 KMG reported that the Aktau plant was producing 1,700 to 1,800 tonnes a day against capacity of 2,250 tonnes, because road contractors were not placing orders. Karazhanbasmunai and Caspi Bitum were told to work out additional sales channels. Linking the prime minister's Mangystau visit to the plant is our reading; the draft itself names no company.
What to watch: the text is still a draft, and the final wording and effective date will only be clear once the order is registered. Even if nothing changes, the current ban on bitumen exports outside the EAEU expires on December 31, 2026. The draft sets no quotas, destination limits or pricing mechanism, so road contractors, traders and Chinese-backed refiners should track the final version.
Sources:
Open Legal Acts portal of Kazakhstan (Energy Ministry draft order, primary official text), https://legalacts.egov.kz/npa/view?id=15932565
Adilet legal database (Energy Minister's Order No. 175-n/k, primary official text), https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/V2600038630
KazMunayGas (KMG), https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/v-aktau-caspi-bitum/
KazMunayGas (KMG), https://www.kmg.kz/ru/press-center/press-releases/na-caspi-bitum/
Reuters (via The Moscow Times, Russian edition), https://ru.themoscowtimes.com/2026/10/20/kazakhstan-razreshit-eksport-bituma-za-predely-eaes-proekt-prikaza-a209044
Inbusiness.kz, https://inbusiness.kz/ru/last/kazahstan-planiruet-razreshit-eksport-dorozhnogo-bituma-v-mezhsezone
Informburo.kz, https://informburo.kz/novosti/v-kazaxstane-xotiat-razresit-eksport-bituma-za-predely-eaes
Orda.kz, https://orda.kz/kazahstanu-ne-grozit-deficit-dorozhnogo-bituma-minjenergo-414853/
Kursiv, https://kz.kursiv.media/2026-02-04/zhnb-kazahstan-mozhet-sokratit-import-bituma-iz-rossii-v-10-raz/
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