Azerbaijan, Baku, May 6/ Trend, E. Ismayilov /
In January-March the net volume of sales of the Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim, in which the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has equity, amounted to 945 million liras compared to 677 million liras in January-March 2010, Petkim said on Thursday.
According to Petkim the cost of products sold in the first quarter of this year amounted to 828 million liras, compared to 630 million liras in January-March 2010.
In the first quarter the gross margin of the complex hit 117 million liras (gross profit margin - 12.4 percent), compared to 47 million liras (gross profit margin - 7 percent) in January-March 2010.
Petkim's net income amounted to 77 million liras in January-March this year, compared to 21 million liras in the first quarter of 2010.
The volume of the petrochemical complex's production in January-March amounted to 785,000 tons, compared to 760,000 tons in January-March last year. Sales in this period amounted to 467,000 tons, compared to 379,000 tons during the same period last year. Petkim's production capacity in January-March was implemented at 98 percent, compared to 94 percent in the first quarter of last year.
In January-March the complex exported 192,000 tons compared to 118,000 tons in January-March of last year.
In 2008 the alliance between SOCAR and Turcas Petrol / Injaz Projects won a tender to buy a 51 percent stake of chemical concern, offering $2.04 billion. Now Turkey imports 70-75 percent of its demanded chemical products. Investments in the development of Petkim will reduce imports by 30 percent.
The Petkim Petrokimya Holding manufactures plastic packaging, fabric, PVC and detergents. It is the only Turkish producer of such products. The company exports a quarter of the production.