Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

SOCAR Methanol LLC, the methanol plant of Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR, has completely fulfilled its production plan for 2017, Elnur Mustafayev, head of SOCAR Methanol LLC, said.

He made the remarks Oct. 23 in Baku at an event titled “Industry Development: Support for Processing Spheres” organized by Azerbaijan’s Economy Ministry and SOCAR Methanol LLC.

The company’s production plan for 2017 was 250,000 tons of methanol.

“As much as 95 percent of the manufactured products was exported,” Mustafayev said. “There is great demand for methanol in the world - about 40 million tons [a year]. SOCAR Methanol LLC meets this demand by 0.7 percent. Five percent is sold on the Azerbaijani market to several companies. We hope that after today’s event, the interest for methanol in the country will grow.”

He added that increasing production capacity and reducing the cost of goods are the strategic objectives of the methanol plant.

Production at Azerbaijan’s methanol plant, the only plant of this kind in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, started in January 2014. Currently, 95 percent of its products are exported.

The plant’s maximum annual capacity is 720,000 tons. SOCAR acquired the plant from the Aqrarkredit non-bank credit organization. The plant cost was estimated at $520 million.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Economy Minister Niyazi Safarov said that Azerbaijan should forget about oil factor in the economy.

He said that the processing sphere is one of the most important for the further development of Azerbaijan’s industry.

“This sphere is well diversified,” Safarov said. “Industrial zones, parks and territories, where special attention is paid to processing facilities, are being created.”

He noted that in modern conditions, Azerbaijan should develop industrial production.

“From this point of view, SOCAR Methanol LLC is an important company with significant export potential and it is possible to create a real industrial cluster around it,” he added.

--