Turkey's Petkim to meet 40% of domestic petchem demand by 2015

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--Turkey should expect its largest petrochemical company Petkim to meet 40% of domestic petrochemical demand by 2015 compared to the current 25%, the Turkish Privatisation Administration (OIB) said on Monday.

Describing the 2008 privatisation of Petkim as a great success so far, OIB said the expansion plans of the company's owners to almost double production capacity to 6.3m tonnes/year from 3.2m tonnes/year within six years were on course.

A majority 51% stake in Petkim, based in Izmir, western Turkey, was acquired by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (Socar), Turkey's Turcas Petroleum and Saudi Arabia-based developer Injaz Projects from the Turkish state for $2.04bn (€1.45bn).

They expected Petkim's annual revenue to rise to $4bn from $1.9bn last year once the expansion is complete.

The OIB said Turkey's demand for petrochemical products was last year worth $6.1bn and was growing at a yearly 11-12%.

($1 = €0.71)

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