The Polypropylene Plant (PP) is one of the leading production facilities of SOCAR Polymer; the company was established in 2013 to develop the country’s petrochemical industry. The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, laid the plant's foundation in October 2015. On the 18th of July 2018, President Ilham Aliyev and Italian President Sergio Mattarella attended the opening ceremony of the polypropylene plant.
The annual production capacity of the Polypropylene Plant is 184,000 tonnes. The technologies of LyondellBasell, one of the leaders in polymer production, were used during the construction. The construction of the plant was carried out by the Italian Maire Tecnimont Company, the contractor, under the EPC (Engineering, Supply, and Employment) contract. As a PMC (Project Management Consulting Company) contractor, Fluor B.V. of the Netherlands was involved in the project. In order to minimize environmental and social impacts, the international Equator Principles (EP) were followed, and cooperation was established with the famous Canadian company Golder Associates.
Up to 2,450 people were involved in the construction works of the PP at the most intense stage, 853 piles were driven, approximately 37,500 m³ of reinforced concrete work was done, 47,470 meters of underground service lines were laid, approximately 4,100 tonnes of metal structures were installed, and pipe works in the volume of 156,300 inches per day was done, 36800 m³ of poured concrete was processed, and 2327 tonnes of equipment was installed.
A cooling tower, nitrogen production unit, condensing unit, measuring devices and technical air system, general electrical substation, hexane and isobutane storage tanks, flare unit, chemical additive storage, general Control Room (dispatch station) in the area of general economic and engineering facilities of the plant, laboratory, bagging, and packaging facilities, as well as a finished product warehouse were built. More than 30 types of PP have already been produced at the plant.
Polypropylene is used as a primary product for the production of transparent and metallic packaging films, sewage and pressure pipes for indoor use, disposable tableware, bags and soft containers for agricultural products and fertilizers, transparent packaging and containers for microwave ovens, buckets and containers for building materials, food containers, also in the preparation of syringes, bottles for medical purposes, carpet type fibers for hygienic products and non-woven materials.