Azerbaijan's State Program for the Development of the Mining and Metallurgy Industry for 2027–2030 is a large-scale industrial plan designed to form new production chains within the country's non-oil industry. The core essence of the program is to process Azerbaijan's mineral resources domestically as much as possible, create higher added value, and ultimately supply more finished and semi-finished industrial products to foreign markets. According to the official presentation, a total of 5.3 billion AZN in investments is envisioned within the framework of the program for 2027–2030.
Of this amount, 1.1 billion AZN is expected to be formed from the state budget, 2.2 billion AZN from the funds and borrowed capital of state-owned enterprises, and 2 billion AZN from private sector funds and borrowed capital. Thus, approximately 80% of the total investment is planned to be attracted from non-budgetary sources. As a result of these investments, the contribution of the mining and metallurgy sector to GDP is projected to increase from 700 million AZN in 2025 to 1.8 billion AZN in 2030, while the sector's annual export potential is expected to rise from 1.3 billion AZN to 3.4 billion AZN.
In other words, the goal is to increase the added value and annual export potential of the sector by approximately 2.6 times. This is where the main change begins: instead of extracting and selling raw ore, Azerbaijan seeks to generate more revenue from processing that ore domestically. For example, the Dashkesan iron ore project is one of the clearest examples of this model.
It envisages the creation of an enterprise capable of producing 2 million tons of hot briquetted iron (HBI) annually. It is reported that approximately 1.7 million tons of this will form export potential. HBI is no longer just a mining product; it is a processed raw material used in steel production.
Thus, the economic chain does not end with the extraction of iron ore: the ore is enriched, then transformed into the production of pellets and HBI, resulting in a higher-value raw material for the steel industry. The next stage of this chain is the production of more steel and metal products within Azerbaijan. In other words, the goal is both to generate revenue from HBI exports and, if used in domestic metallurgy, to reduce the need for imported raw materials for steel producers.
This can expand domestic production opportunities for construction, mechanical engineering, agricultural machinery, metal structures, and other fields. A similar approach is applied to non-ferrous metals. The integration of copper, zinc, and lead reserves in the Filizchay deposit into economic circulation is planned.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
