SOCAR Turkey plans to open huge Aegean container port in September

BAKU

DHA Photo

The Turkish branch of Azeri energy giant SOCAR will open the Petlim Container Port in the Aegean Sea this September to become an alternative to Greece’s Piraeus Port for container shipments, according to Kenan Yavuz, the head of SOCAR Turkey and a board member of Petkim Petrochemical Holding.

“The Petlim Container Port will be commissioned in September this year. Investments attracted for the construction of the port stand at $400 million … The most important advantage of the port is that it will become a great alternative to the Piraeus Port on the Aegean Sea and we’ll be accepting the biggest container ships to our port,” Yavuz said in his speech at the 22nd International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition in Baku Expo Center on June 2, the company said in a written statement.

The company invited Azerbaijan’s President İlham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the opening ceremony, Yavuz added. 

The Petlim Container Port will be operated by Dutch company APM Terminals, one of the world’s leading companies in the field, for the next 28 years, he also said. 

Last year Petlim Port, owned by Petkim Petrochemical Holding in the Aliağa district of the Aegean province of İzmir, sold some 30 percent of its shares to Goldman Sachs for $300 million. Currently, Petkim holds a 70 percent share of Petlim, while Goldman Sachs holds the remaining 30 percent. Petkim and Petlim are controlled by SOCAR Turkey. 

The Petlim Container Port, which for the first time in Turkey will enable the berthing of ships with 11,000 TEUs, will possess a starting capacity of 1.5 million TEUs. A logistic field with a total of 48 hectares will be created, with 42 hectares in the port field for container storage and 6 hectares in the rear service area. 

SOCAR Turkey also plans to build a refinery on the Petkim Peninsula with the aim of integrating refinery, petrochemical and logistical operations at the site. The investments worth around $10 billion at the site have been made within the framework of Petkim’s Value-Site 2023 Project. 

“The Petkim Peninsula will become one of the largest production centers in Europe by 2018,” Yavuz said. 

Touching upon the Star refinery that is being constructed by SOCAR in the Petkim Peninsula, Yavuz said its construction will be completed at the end of 2017 and the refinery will produce its first products in early 2018.

Some 20 percent of construction works have already been completed at the refinery, he added. 

Yavuz also revealed SOCAR’s plans to produce electricity at the Petkim Peninsula.

He said SOCAR plans to produce 1,500 megawatt of electricity from two power plans - a 300-megawatt coal thermal power plant and a 51 megawatt wind power plant.

The construction of both plants has already started and they will be commissioned in 2016.

“The electricity produced at these plants will be used for meeting the needs of the Petkim Petrochemical Holding, Star Refinery and Petlim Port. The export of electricity will be possible as well,” he added.