The introductory meeting for the “Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone”, which is projected to become Turkey’s global petrochemical hub, was held in Adana on March 24. Key actors from the public and business joined the ceremony attended by Murat Kurum, the Minister of Environment and Urbanization, Hasan Büyükdede, the Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology, Mahmut Demirtaş, Adana Governor, Hüseyin Sözlü, Adana Metropolitan Mayor, and Dr. Erman Ilıcak, the President of Rönesans Holding.
In the meeting, it was announced that Rönesans Holding undertook the management and infrastructure development operations of the Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone. Rönesans Holding, which is the management company of the Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone in partnership with the Dutch company Port of Rotterdam, will play a key role in attracting international investors who will build petrochemical plants in the industrial zone.
The plan is to locally produce a large portion of the imported petrochemical product range with the allocation of all the parcels to the investors in project, whose master plan works have been completed by Rönesans Holding under the leadership of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. With a strategic location that is close to the Yumurtalık Free Zone, which is home to oil and gas pipelines, natural gas conversion and thermal power plants of BOTAŞ, the Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone will also play a prominent role in exports thanks to its ease of access to Mersin and Iskenderun ports.
“We are committed to attracting international investors”
Speaking at the introductory meeting, Dr. Erman Ilıcak, the President of Rönesans Holding said, “We are committed to developing the infrastructure of the Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone, which offers significant advantages in terms of supply and demand, and to attracting international investors to the region.” Pointing to the national plastic industry that is worth US$ 35 billion, Dr. Ilıcak added, “We need to work together to make Adana the capital of this industry.”
Stating that the Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone was a priority project within the Presidency’s medium-term economic program for 2019-2021, Dr. Ilıcak said, “As part of this plan, many of our petrochemical imports–mainly Polypropylene, Polyethylene and PVC, which result in an annual spending of about US$ 15 billion, will be locally produced in Adana.” Emphasizing that the project would provide job opportunities for at least 10,000 young people, Erman Ilıcak also said:
“As the management company of this 14-million-sqm project in Ceyhan, which was designed following the decision of the Council of Ministers in 2007, we have taken significant responsibilities. We will start with the planning of the infrastructure and complete the zoning and parceling processes in accordance with the purpose of the project. Our second step will be to build the polypropylene plant in partnership with Algeria’s national energy company Sonatrach and the South Korean company GS E&C with an investment of US$ 1.3 billion. Boasting an annual production capacity of 450 thousand tons, this plant will become the first tenant of the project. And then, in collaboration with the esteemed managers of the Port of Rotterdam, the authorities at the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey Investment Office and you, our valuable industrialists, we will find and empower investors who will locally replace our US$ 15 billion worth of annual polyethylene, polypropylene and PVC imports. Our goal is to attract a combined investment value of US$ 10 billion, provide employment for 10,000 young people and reduce our foreign trade deficit by US$4 billion.”
New employment center of the region
Ranking second after the energy industry, the chemical industry also includes the petrochemical products, which are among Turkey’s import items. Last year alone, Turkey suffered a foreign trade deficit of over $13 billion in the petrochemical industry. Turkey spends US$ 4.3 billion annually for the import of petrochemical products that will be produced in this industrial zone.
The Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone will become a petrochemical production hub where raw materials such as LPG and naphtha sourced from Turkey’s surrounding geography will be processed. Planned to be built on 1,341 hectares of land with a coastline of approximately three kilometers, the industrial zone will provide employment for 40.000 people during the 10-year construction period and 10.000 people once fully operational. In the Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone, different petrochemicals such as HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, methanol, MDI, ABS, MMA, acetone, phenol, WCW, PMMA and PET will be produced as well as polypropylene, which will replace these imports. Thus, this local production will create a significant value added for the national economy as well as reducing Turkey’s foreign dependency in this area.
Rönesans to launch the first investment
The first investment of the Ceyhan Petrochemical Industrial Zone will be the “Polypropylene production plant” which will be launched with the partnership of Rönesans Holding, Algeria’s national energy company Sonatrach and the South Korean company GS E&C. The plant, which is projected to be completed in 2023, will boast an annual production capacity of 450.000 tons, contributing around US$ 450-500 million to the reduction of Turkey’s current account deficit.
Polypropylene, which is among Turkey’s raw material imports, has a variety of applications ranging from agriculture to the defense industry, automotive to construction, consumer products to pharmaceuticals and the health sector. This investment of US$ 1.3 billion, which will be launched in partnership with Rönesans Holding, Sonatrach and GS E&C, will meet 25 percent of our national polypropylene demand.
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