SOCAR’s Petkim sees growth in profitability

The share of sales in the Turkish domestic market in the total revenue of the Petkim petrochemical holding, a subsidiary of SOCAR Turkey, increased from 60 percent in 2019 to 67 percent in 2020, when the volume of sales was increased to 12.1 billion Turkish liras ($1.6 billion), Report informs referring to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).

Petkim gave preference to the local market in the production of raw materials used for medical devices, packaging, and hygiene products, the importance of which has increased in Turkey during the pandemic.

Petkim Director-General, head of SOCAR Turkey Refinery and Petrochemical Business Unit Anar Mammadov said that during 2020, the needs of domestic industrial enterprises were considered as a priority.

"Because during this period refineries all over the world had to suspend or reduce production, some petrochemical companies, faced with the problem of supplying raw materials, also had to suspend production for a certain period," Mammadov added. "Working in the context of integration with the STAR refinery, Petkim succeeded to meet customer needs, especially domestically. Our focus on the domestic market has led to a decline in our export performance from $662 million in 2019 to $363 million in 2020. But as a result of our continuous work to meet the domestic demand, our total sales and profitability increased compared to 2019."