Azernews.Az

By Seymur Aliyev

Turkish Petkim petrochemical company, in which Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR has a majority stake, exported goods worth $817 million in January-September 2012, or about 29 percent more than in the same period of last year. For the whole of 2012, Petkim's exports are expected to hit $1 billion, the company said.

The share of exports in Petkim's total turnover amounted to 43 percent in the nine-month period.

The total turnover of the Turkish petrochemicals company exceeded $1.8 billion in January-September, 17 percent over the same period of 2011.

Petkim's sales amounted to 1.43 million tons, or 10 percent more compared to the corresponding period of 2011.

In the first nine months of 2012, the volume of investments in increasing capacity, maintenance and capital expenditure totaled $35 million.

Petkim's production capacity was used at 92 percent.

The portfolio of investments in Petkim will be increased to $500 million by 2015, Kenan Yavuz, head of SOCAR Turkey Enerji, a subsidiary of the Azerbaijani state energy company, and Petkim board member, said in August.

"At present, the volume of investments in Petkim is $250 million," he said in an interview with the Turkish edition Para Dergisi. "The capacity of the complex was increased by 10 per cent through these investments. It is planned to invest $250 million more in Petkim till 2015."

Yavuz also said an additonal $300 million will be invested in the construction of a new container port in the area of the Petkim complex. These funds were not included in the indicated package of investments.

On March 30, SOCAR Turkey Enerji A.S. and SOCAR International DMCC OGG acquired a 10.32 percent stake in Petkim, increasing SOCAR's stake in the company to 61.32 percent. Some 38.67 percent are in free circulation at the Istanbul Stock Exchange.

Azerbaijani companies, mostly SOCAR, have invested about $4.5 billion in the Turkish economy. SOCAR plans to invest $17 billion in Turkey until 2018.