Komatsu will facilitate deliveries of mining equipment across Central Asia through a new logistics hub in Kazakhstan, with an eye on the region’s reserves of key electric vehicle materials like nickel and lithium.

The Japanese heavy machinery maker recently opened a parts distribution center in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city. This is the company’s first warehouse facility in Central Asia and 47th parts distribution center worldwide.

The site will be stocked with vehicle frames assembled in China instead of Japan to save on transportation costs, as well as parts shipped from Japan via China.

Komatsu established a Kazakh unit in 2023 to bolster sales and services in the region, mainly for mining equipment. The unit oversees dealerships and inventories across six countries, including Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Central Asian demand for mining equipment is expected to grow, with China stepping up restrictions on its exports of rare-earth metals and other industrially important materials. As the market for EVs grows, many companies are looking to mines in Central Asia.

Geological exploration in the region largely halted after the fall of the Soviet Union. But it is regaining steam, with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in January urging cooperation from businesses on extracting critical raw materials.

Eastern Kazakhstan is rich in mineral reserves, including of tin, tantalum, lithium and strontium. The Kazakh government aims to increase mineral production 40% by 2029, according to a plan released in February.

Demand for construction and mining machinery in Central Asia totaled around 5,000 units in fiscal 2023, Komatsu said, up from around 2,000 in fiscal 2017.

Komatsu’s push in Central Asia also coincides with the company shifting away from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia used to account for the majority of Komatsu’s 180 billion yen ($1.14 billion) in operations across the Commonwealth of Independent States, a grouping of former Soviet countries. But its operations across the commonwealth shrank to 60 billion yen in fiscal 2024, with Russia’s share falling to 20 billion yen.