The contract was signed with the Estonian company VLCor Baltic OU, a supplier of raw materials for the foundry, aerospace and machine-building industries. Thus, for the first time, Uzbekistan has established the export of this strategic metal.
Rhenium is one of the rarest and most expensive elements of the periodic table. It is used in the production of heat-resistant superalloys, including for jet engine turbines, as well as in the petrochemical and electronics industries. The United States, Europe and China account for the bulk of global rhenium consumption.
The volume of the global rhenium market is about 5,060 tons per year at a price of 2,000 to 4,000 per kilogram, depending on the degree of purity and the form of supply. The largest producers are Chile, the USA, Kazakhstan and China.
The emergence of Uzbekistan among the suppliers may slightly change the alignment in the niche market, which is characterized by high dependence on a limited number of sources and unstable pricing.
According to UzKTM, the technology for obtaining rhenium by hydrogen reduction of ammonium perrhenate was mastered in 2021. In 2025, the company plans to produce 3 tons of metallic rhenium.
The total volume of UzKTM exports in the first half of the year amounted to 21.3 million, which is 118% more than the same period last year.
The plant was established in 2024 on the basis of the scientific and production association "Rare Metals and Hard Alloys", which is part of the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine. By the end of the year, the company also plans to produce 842 tons of molybdenum, 96 tons of tungsten, 5 tons of selenium and 1 ton of tellurium. More than $50 million of the planned $70 million in revenue is accounted for by exports.
