BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 29
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Petkim Petrochemical Complex of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is expected to bring positive results by end-2020, Murat LeCompte, Chief External Affairs Officer at SOCAR Turkey told Trend.
“As a result of the steps taken for normalization of the situation starting from June 1, the demand of other sectors for Petkim’s raw material also increased. This allows to expect positive results for the end of the year,” he said.
LeCompte noted that the first half of 2020 was a challenging period for many sectors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which impacted the whole world.
“However, as a result of the synergy with the STAR Refinery, which started operating in the last quarter of 2018, Petkim increased its production by 1.7 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, from 788,000 tons to 802,000 tons even at the peak of the pandemic,” he said.
He pointed out that Petkim Petrochemical Complex, which is the first and only integrated petrochemical plant of Turkey, is of strategic importance for Turkey’s economy and industry with its 55-year history.
“Despite the contraction in the petrochemical industry in 2019, Petkim achieved a historical record in production with 3.4 million tons in 2019 and operated with a high production capacity of 97.2 percent throughout the year,” said LeCompte.
SOCAR Turkey acquired and made Petkim focal point of its investments in 2008.
The petrochemical products, produced by Petkim, are used in several industrial branches such as automotive, electrics, electronics, agriculture, packaging, textile, pharmaceutics, paints, construction, detergent and cosmetics.
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