Azerbaijan: SOCAR Container Terminal in Turkey Not for Sale

The Azerbaijani state-owned energy company SOCAR has denied claims that it is looking at options for selling its container port in Turkey. The facility, SOCAR Terminal, is the biggest port in Turkey’s Aegean region, with a container handling capacity of 1.5 million TEU. The construction of the port was completed in 2018.

However, Bloomberg last month reported that SOCAR Türkiye Energy was holding talks with buyers for potential sale of SOCAR Terminal. The deal was reportedly meant to raise capital for the operator’s parent company, SOCAR Group, as it prepares to invest $7 billion in the expansion of its petrochemicals portfolio in Turkey.

But in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Dunya, SOCAR Terminal CEO Uygun Degirmenci said that the port is not on sale. Instead, an additional investment is underway to upgrade the terminal. SOCAR has so far invested $420 million in the terminal.

“Terminating our operations in the terminal is definitely not on SOCAR’s agenda. On the contrary, last week the company’s board of directors made decisions that will take us to a new level through the introduction of new equipment and additional investment in digitization, ensuring an increase in capacity,” commented Degirmenci. He also revealed that SOCAR Terminal is exploring cooperation opportunities with strategic partners to expand its terminal operations. This is part of a wider effort by SOCAR Terminal to boost its port operations.

Last month, SOCAR Terminal acquired the remaining 93% stake in port operator Petlim from the Turkish petrochemical company Petkim. Petlim was established in 2010 to help in developing Petkim port into the current SOCAR Terminal. Petkim port was initially built in 1985 to serve as a petroleum export facility.

Last year, SOCAR Terminal served 630 vessels and handled 541,000 TEUs.