Socar Polymer starts on HDPE plant

Socar Polymer, a subsidiary of the Azerbaijan state oil and gas corporation Socar and several private industrial companies, recently held a ground breaking ceremony for its 120,000 tonnes/year capacity high density polyethylene (HDPE) plant in the Sumgayit Chemical Industry Park. Along with a 180,000 tonnes/year polypropylene production facility, the plant is now due to be commissioned by 2018. The company already produces low density polyethylene most of which is exported.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev was present at a ground breaking ceremony.

The HDPE plant, aimed at import substitution to meet demand in Azerbaijan’s growing plastics market, is set to produce a range of products including commodity grades manufactured with Ziegler and chrome catalysts and speciality grades like bimodal PE 100 pipe polymers.

It has already concluded a licensing agreement with Ineos Technologies to use its Innovene S Process technology at the new PE facility.

In April, Socar signed an engineering contract with Italian firm Maire Tecnimont SpA for the construction of the PP plant, which is expected to be completed first by the end of 2017, according to the agreement.

The PP unit, transferred from Canada, will be equipped with LyondellBasell’s Spheripol process technology. It is the first PP plant to operate in Azerbaijan as the country develops and extends its petrochemicals industry.

The Sumgayit Chemical Industry Park, 30 km north of the Azerbaijan capital Baku, which began to take shape in 2013 is expected to become a major new petrochemicals hub in Central Asia.

Socar group offshoot Azerkimya plans a longer term project to establish a bigger EUR13 billion oil, gas and petrochemicals complex near Baku with butadiene, PE and PP production. This is expected to include 670,000 tonnes per year of PE and 550,000 tonnes per year of PP, and is set to be launched in 2020.

Socar has a 51% stake in Socar Polymer, and the rest belong to the largest private holdings of Azerbaijan - Pasha Holding, Gilan Holding and Azersun Holding.