Azerbaijan’s chemical industry speeds up export drive Focused on global markets 

Azerbaijan’s industrial development has long been closely tied to the petrochemical sector, which holds substantial export potential. Alongside SOCAR’s polymer plant and state-owned urea and methanol facilities, private chemical manufacturers are expanding rapidly within the Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park (SCIP). Recently, a new facility producing organochemical fertilisers began operations in the Sabirabad industrial district. Positive momentum in the sector is further reflected in a 22% increase in chemical exports during the first three quarters of 2025.

One of the main goals of the “Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development,” adopted several years ago, is to ensure a qualitative transformation of the domestic economy by enhancing the competitiveness of the oil industry and strengthening its positions in international markets. The implementation of the Strategy’s objectives is aimed at increasing non-oil exports to $5.3 billion by 2027. A key role in achieving these goals is assigned to the expansion of production in the petrochemical sector and the launch of new chemical enterprises, including those employing “green” and zero-waste technologies.

The flagships of Azerbaijan’s chemical industry are the large enterprises launched in early 2019 by SOCAR — SOCAR Carbamide, which produces nitrogen fertilisers and the raw materials for them, and SOCAR Polymer, a leading manufacturer of polymer products. SOCAR also operates a major methanol plant, SOCAR Methanol, producing methanol (methyl alcohol) of 99.9% purity.

The lion’s share of the production capacity of all three enterprises is export-oriented, and current trends indicate a stable external demand. In particular, the SOCAR Carbamide plant in Sumgayit, launched about six years ago, consists of three production units: ammonia, urea, and urea granules, with a design capacity of 1,200 tons of ammonia and 2,000 tons of urea per day. According to the October issue of the “Export Review” by the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communications (CAERC), Azerbaijan exported urea worth $131.9 million in January–September of this year, marking a 46.5% increase compared to the same period last year.

Since last year, global demand for nitrogen fertilisers has been rebounding, with Azerbaijan emerging as a key beneficiary of this trend. In 2024 alone, production of urea fertilisers and nitrogen compounds rose by nearly 44%. Given current market demand, SOCAR Carbamide now plans to increase fertiliser output to 660,000 tons by the end of 2025.

Despite a slight decline in exports from SOCAR Methanol, SOCAR Polymer has shown very solid production and export dynamics among domestic chemical enterprises, supplying various types of polypropylene, high-density polyethylene, and other polymer raw materials and semi-finished products. According to the CAERC report for the first three quarters of this year, the Sumgayit polymer complex exported products worth $207 million, marking a 7.3% increase compared to the same period last year.

Notably, SOCAR Polymer’s stable performance in external markets is largely due to its close cooperation with the largest regional petrochemical enterprises in Türkiye — the Petkim complex and the STAR refinery, which are also owned by SOCAR. Thanks to uninterrupted supplies to Türkiye, as well as to EU and CIS countries, Azerbaijani-produced polymer products and other raw materials enjoy a substantial and reliable market.

The efficiency of Azerbaijan’s petrochemical complex is further highlighted by the fact that export growth in this sector nearly triples that of overall non-oil exports. For comparison, while the total value of Azerbaijan’s non-oil exports reached $2.6 billion between January and September 2025—a 7.7% increase—the value of exported chemical products grew by 22% over the same period.

Another key factor behind the stable and profitable operation of the country’s chemical industry is the transfer of state-owned core facilities under the management of Azerbaijan Investment Holding (AIH) by presidential decree. During this period, AIH has focused on reducing losses and boosting profitability across its enterprises. Specialists at AIH have worked to increase company capitalisation, modernise production using advanced technologies, conduct certifications, and implement corporate governance and contemporary management practices to enhance market value.

The segment of so-called small-scale chemistry — private enterprises, mostly located within the country’s largest industrial cluster, the SCIP — is developing very dynamically. In SCIP, relatively small private companies have established the production of finished products from polymer and other petrochemical raw materials, as well as ready-made goods, including agricultural, household, automotive, medical, and construction chemicals, among others.

Currently, SCIP hosts 39 resident companies with a total investment portfolio exceeding 6 billion manats, of which 28 are already operational. From 2015 to July 2025, the park’s residents sold products worth approximately 14.4 billion manats ($8.4 billion), including over 1.1 billion manats ($647 million) in the first half of this year alone, nearly half of which were exports. Overall, compared to the first half of 2024, exports from the Sumgayit cluster increased by 20%.

Thanks to well-developed infrastructure, fiscal incentives, and a favourable business climate, the number of companies in the Sumgayit cluster planning to expand their chemical sector activities is growing rapidly. In October 2024, an agreement was signed to launch the construction of a plant at SCIP for producing pyrolysis oil from plastic waste. Then, at the end of April 2025, with the participation of the head of state, Kartash Kimya LLC officially opened its plant within the chemical park. Equipped with seven production lines for building materials and chemical additives, the facility has an annual production capacity of 295,000 tonnes.

Notably, alongside Sumgayit, chemical enterprises producing household, agricultural, and other products are emerging in industrial clusters across Azerbaijan. In late October 2025, President Ilham Aliyev visited the Sabirabad industrial district to review operations at Humix LLC, a producer of agrochemical products. Built using technologies from Türkiye and China, the plant is set to produce 18,000 tonnes annually of organo-mineral (powdered), chemical (liquid and powdered), and granulated fertilisers. These products are intended to meet domestic demand as well as for export.