BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 23. Türkiye and the Caucasus countries could become an important petrochemical hub in the long term, an advisor to SOCAR Türkiye Mevlüt Çetinkaya said at the 2nd Forum on Logistics and Oil Trade in the Caspian and Central Asian Regions in Baku, Trend reports.
According to him, rising energy prices have significantly worsened the situation for European producers, making them less competitive compared to the United States and Asian countries.
"As a result, several companies are gradually exiting the market, and investment activity is shifting to other regions. At the same time, the global petrochemical industry is undergoing a structural transformation. In Asia, particularly in China, there is rapid growth in production capacity. Thus, a country that previously imported millions of tons of polypropylene is now itself an exporter of this product," the company's advisor said.
The accelerated development of the petrochemical industry in the U.S. is highlighted separately, where access to cheap ethane produced during shale gas extraction has become a key advantage.
"This has enabled the country to strengthen its position in the global market and become one of the largest investors in ethylene value chains. The petrochemical sector is undergoing a transition to a new development model, in which the integration of oil refining and petrochemicals, the scaling up of production, and technologies for converting raw materials directly into chemical products, bypassing the use of traditional fuels, are playing an increasingly important role. Against this backdrop, the reduction in capacity in Europe is seen as part of a broader restructuring of the global petrochemical market, where growth centers are gradually shifting toward Asia and North America," Çetinkaya noted.
He said that by 2027, ethylene capacity in Europe is expected to decrease by approximately 5 million tons.
"China, on the other hand, has become virtually self-sufficient: whereas it used to import millions of tons of polypropylene, it has now become an exporter itself. This is a colossal shift in the market structure. Waste processing and chemical recycling are also developing rapidly. One of the new trends is the shift from traditional refining to the new ‘crude-to-chemicals’ model—where oil is processed not into fuel, but directly into petrochemical products. Whereas previously only 15–20% of feedstock went into petrochemicals, now it’s up to 50%,” the company’s advisor emphasized
Mevlüt Çetinkaya added that this figure could double by 2035.
"The largest production capacities are located in China and Saudi Arabia. In terms of growth, Asia is increasing its capacity from 75 million tons in 2014 to 135 million tons in 2024 and to 190 million tons by 2034. The U.S. is also growing rapidly thanks to shale gas," Mevlüt Çetinkaya pointed out.
He said that this region is also demonstrating growth, and, for example, significant investments are being made in Kazakhstan. “I believe that this region, including Türkiye and the Caucasus countries, could become an important petrochemical hub in the long term,” Çetinkaya concluded.