BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.9
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Petkim petrochemical complex of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR in Turkey has resumed the operation of its acrylonitrile (ACN) plant after a long break, Trend reports citing Polymerupdate.com.
The operations have restarted in early February, a source said.
Reportedly, the ACN plant was shut down for maintenance in July, 2020 and was off-line due to technical issues.
Head of the SOCAR Turkey Refinery and Petrochemicals Business Unit and General Manager of Petkim Anar Mammadov told Bloomberg TV that Mammadov went on to add that COVID-19 didn’t cause capacity decrease and the production figures for 2020 are close to those of 2019. “Our expectations regarding the balance sheet are not negative.”
He noted that this year they decreased exports and mainly focused on the domestic market.
“Petkim’s market share in 18 percent. Five such complexes are needed to cover Turkey’s demand. We also have a deficit in the diesel market after Star Refinery became operational. Turkey has to import 3-4 million tons of diesel per year. We support new investments in order to reduce the current account deficit and to strengthen domestic producers. "
Petkim is the first and the sole integrated petrochemical facility in Turkey. It is the largest exporter in the Aegean region. Petkim’s production capacity is 3.6 million tons per year. The petrochemical complex produces around 60 different types of products and exports to 78 countries. The complex meets about 20 percent of Turkey’s demand for petrochemical products.
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