OREANDA-NEWS. March 09, 2010. Over 20,000 tons of granular polypropylene has been loaded from the terminal of the Turkmenbashi international seaport abroad since the beginning of 2010. This product exported under the trade mark Turkmenplen is on the top list of oil products manufactured at the Turkmenbashi oil refineries. It is in extremely high demand on the world markets that is vividly illustrated by numerous contracts concluded for Turkmen propylene at the State Commodity and Raw Materials Exchange of Turkmenistan.

The geography of consumers of Turkmen polypropylene is quite extended: Japan, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and other neighbouring and remote countries. A major amount of this export product is delivered by sea that required construction of a warehouse for keeping and loading export products which are in great demand on the world markets. The fully automated warehouse with the storage capacity of 90,000 tons of polypropylene a year occupies the total area of 12,000 square metres. Every day Komatsu loaders (Japan) and other equipment produced by the leading manufacturers handle hundreds of tons of environmentally friendly polymer transported there from the storehouses of Turkmenbashi oil refineries.

During these days Turkmen polypropylene is being loaded on the Russian vessel Efe at the Turkmenbashi seaport. The dry cargo ship will deliver 1,000 tons of polypropylene packed in sacks to Astrakhan. This year it is the sixth foreign vessel loaded with Turkmen polypropylene. In spring when the navigation period among the river and sea ports on the Caspian Sea and Volga, the Sea of Azov, the Baltic Sea will be opened, traffic intensity will increase considerably. In this period dozens of thousands of tons of cargo delivered to and outside the country via the Caspian Sea are handled on the berths of the Turkmen seaport are handled every month.

Along with loading sea vessels the terminal serves the long caravans of heavy dumpers, which come for Turkmen polypropylene from Turkey. The terminal loaded 250 trailers and 95 railway cars for the past two months. Quite often the production with the logo of the Turkmenbashi oil refineries are loaded from port trailers to the trucks of foreign carrier agencies, sea vessels and railway cars passing the port warehouses.

As is known, the priorities of the strategy for developing petrochemical industry in the epoch of new Revival includes construction of the facilities producing polypropylene and the enterprises manufacturing various goods from it for the domestic and foreign consumer markets. This large-scale activity was launched after the millisecond catalytic cracking (MSCC) unit producing liquefied gas that is used to manufacture polypropylene had been put into operation at the Turkmenbashi oil refineries. The first polypropylene unit with the capacity of 90,000 tons a year was built there. This project funded by the Eksimbank (Japan) was implemented by the consortium of the Japanese companies – JGC, Itochu, Nissho Iwai, Marubeni. Thus, this event transformed the Turkmenbashi complex of oil refineries from a petroleum refining facility into a petrochemical plant.

Polypropylene is produced through using advanced technologies designed by the Italian company Basell that allow refining raw materials from admixtures. Without going into details of polymerization processes, it should be noted that the end product is environmentally friendly granulated polypropylene that meets international quality standards. It is used to produce polymer film, artificial fibre, high-strength sheet thermoplastic and various polymeric articles – packing string, ultra strong ropes, vehicle filters, clothes and furniture, medical materials.

Granulated polypropylene has a high rating on the world markets and products made from granulated polypropylene are very expensive. This was a major factor in adopting the decision to construct the plant producing polypropylene fabric BOPP at the Turkmenbashi oil refineries. BOPP is widely used as a packing material in agriculture, tobacco and food industries.

Thus, this project provides the vast opportunities to local enterprises producing consumer goods as well as allows creating a closed chain of production at the Turkmenbashi oil refineries. Furthermore, it will enable the leading sector of Turkmen economy to reach a qualitatively new level and take leading positions in Central Asia through meeting the domestic needs and increasing exports of high-quality petrochemicals as well as applying scientific and technological advances that underlie the reform processes taking place at the Turkmenbashi oil refineries and contribute to enhancing an international prestige of Turkmen commodities.