Turkey's Petkim seeks partners for petrochemicals expansion

My colleague, Anna Jagger, attended a conference in Vienna, Austria, last week. There she learned that Turkey's Petkim is seeking partners for a major petrochemicals expansion at its complex near Izmir in western Turkey.

Petkim - the country's main petrochemical major - has suffered decades of underinvestment resulting in a huge polymer deficit in Turkey. The country is a massive importer of plastics due to lack of domestic capacity.

So the news that privatised Petkim is going to grow will be very welcome in the country.

Kenan Yavuz, the chief executive of parent group Socar & Turcas, told ICIS: "We are looking for strategic partners." There has been some interest from companies in the US, Europe and the Far East, he revealed.

Petkim plans to double its petrochemicals capacity by 2018, Yavuz said. Naphtha feedstock for the expansion would be provided by Socar & Turcas, which planned to build a $4bn-5bn refinery next to the Petkim complex, he added.

Socar & Turcas, which owns a 51% stake in Petkim, expects to complete the 10m tonne/year refinery project in 2014, said Yavuz.