Azernews.Az

BAKU – The South Korean STX Heavy Industries Co., a subdivision of the STX Group, said Friday that it had received a $210 million order from the Azerbaijani AzMeCo company to construct a methanol production plant in Azerbaijan.

STX Heavy Industries will start construction next year and finish the project by March 2013, the company said.

Earlier, AzMeCo attracted additional investors to implement the first phase of the project to build the methanol plant. It is currently seeking investors for the second phase, which envisages the production of fertilizers.

The total cost of the project's first phase is $324 million, $85 million of which is provided through the company's own funds and $120 million by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The major buyers of the finished products will be Vitol and the Mitsubishi Corporation.

The second phase of the project envisages the construction of the AzerGubre fertilizer plant. The plant's capacity will be 1,100 tons of ammonia, 2,150 tons of urea and 115 tons of formaldehyde per day. The total value of the second phase is $700 million in investment capital, with return on investment expected within five years.

The third phase of the project, worth a total of $300 million, involves methanol and urea derivatives production. AzMeCo plans to begin with acetic acid, DME and melamine production.