Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

SOCAR Methanol has increased methanol production by 35.5 percent during the period of January-September 2020, local media has reported.

During the reporting period, the company produced 368,200 tons of methanol. In addition, on October 1, there were 11,900 tons of finished products at the enterprise’s warehouse.

Moreover, Azerbaijan exported 350,038 tons of methanol worth $35.4 million during the first nine months of the year.

The share of methanol in the total volume of exports in the reporting period was 0.33 percent, while in the structure of non-oil exports 2.76 percent.

Likewise, methanol exports accounted for 80.85 percent of all chemical products exports from Azerbaijan. It should be noted that chemical products export amounted to 434,932 tons worth $60.2 million.

The company produced 383,000 tons of methanol in 2019.

Additionally, the company forecasts about 480,000 tons of methanol production in 2020.

The only methanol plant in the Caucasus is located in the Garadagh district of Baku and has been operational since 2013. It is the first gas-chemical production facility in the country.

In November 2016, SOCAR Methanol LLC, a SOCAR subsidiary, took over the management of the plant. Since October 2018, it has been incorporated into SOCAR's structure and is currently operating as the SOCAR Methanol Plant. The plant cost was estimated at $520 million.

The factory has an annual production capacity of 650,000-700,000 tons.

The 99.99 percent methyl alcohol, is considered an A-class product and is the purest methanol in the world. The quality of internationally standardized and certified methanol is regularly monitored by the plant’s own laboratory and internationally recognized inspection bodies The plant has storage of over 48,000 metric tons of ready-made products to ensure timely delivery and high-quality customer service.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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