BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 23. Türkiye and the
Caucasus countries could become an important petrochemical hub in
the long term, an advisor to SOCAR Türkiye Mevlüt Çetinkaya said at
the 2nd Forum on Logistics and Oil Trade in the Caspian and Central
Asian Regions in Baku, Trend reports.
According to him, rising energy prices have significantly
worsened the situation for European producers, making them less
competitive compared to the United States and Asian countries.
“As a result, several companies are gradually exiting the
market, and investment activity is shifting to other regions. At
the same time, the global petrochemical industry is undergoing a
structural transformation. In Asia, particularly in China, there is
rapid growth in production capacity. Thus, a country that
previously imported millions of tons of polypropylene is now itself
an exporter of this product,” the company’s advisor said.
The accelerated development of the petrochemical industry in the
U.S. is highlighted separately, where access to cheap ethane
produced during shale gas extraction has become a key
advantage.
“This has enabled the country to strengthen its position in the
global market and become one of the largest investors in ethylene
value chains. The petrochemical sector is undergoing a transition
to a new development model, in which the integration of oil
refining and petrochemicals, the scaling up of production, and
technologies for converting raw materials directly into chemical
products, bypassing the use of traditional fuels, are playing an
increasingly important role. Against this backdrop, the reduction
in capacity in Europe is seen as part of a broader restructuring of
the global petrochemical market, where growth centers are gradually
shifting toward Asia and North America,” Çetinkaya noted.
He said that by 2027, ethylene capacity in Europe is expected to
decrease by approximately 5 million tons.
“China, on the other hand, has become virtually self-sufficient:
whereas it used to import millions of tons of polypropylene, it has
now become an exporter itself. This is a colossal shift in the
market structure. Waste processing and chemical recycling are also
developing rapidly. One of the new trends is the shift from
traditional refining to the new ‘crude-to-chemicals’ model—where
oil is processed not into fuel, but directly into petrochemical
products. Whereas previously only 15–20% of feedstock went into
petrochemicals, now it’s up to 50%,” the company’s advisor
emphasized
Mevlüt Çetinkaya added that this figure could double by
2035.
“The largest production capacities are located in China and
Saudi Arabia. In terms of growth, Asia is increasing its capacity
from 75 million tons in 2014 to 135 million tons in 2024 and to 190
million tons by 2034. The U.S. is also growing rapidly thanks to
shale gas,” Mevlüt Çetinkaya pointed out.
He said that this region is also demonstrating growth, and, for
example, significant investments are being made in Kazakhstan. “I
believe that this region, including Türkiye and the Caucasus
countries, could become an important petrochemical hub in the long
term,” Çetinkaya concluded.
