Petkim to push ahead with 50% expansion of PTA capacity

09 January 2013 14:10  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Turkish petrochemical producer Petkim is going ahead with a project to increase its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) capacity by 50%, the company said on Wednesday.

The capacity of Petkim’s PTA plant in Aliaga, near Izmir, on western Turkey’s Aegean coast, would be boosted from 70,000 tonnes/year to 105,000 tonnes/year, it added.

Petkim has opted to include the project in its Petrochemical Products Capacity Expansion and New Product Generation capital expenditure (capex) programme, the company said.

The programme is tied to Petkim’s ongoing construction of a $10bn (€7.6bn)  petrochemical “supersite” in Aliaga.

Modelled on the Jurong Island industrial zone in Singapore – which includes a chemical manufacturing cluster – the Aliaga petrochemical complex should more than triple Petkim’s petrochemical production capacity by 2023 to 10m tonnes/year.

The complex, complete with a container port, should also enable Petkim to increase its petrochemical exports from around $1bn last year to $5bn by 2023, the company said.

No costings or construction deadline for the PTA expansion were available from Petkim. However, the company noted its decision to move ahead with the project came following its receipt of a Strategic Investment Incentive Certificate, which paves the way for substantial investment tax incentives, from Turkey’s economy ministry.

The controlling shareholder in Petkim is the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).

($1 = €0.76)

By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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