AzMeCo Azerbaijan Methanol Company Information

In October 2009, the privately owned Azerbaijan Methanol Company (AzMeCo) announced it wasplanning a world scale, US$330mn methanol manufacturing complex at Karadagh. The decision followedthe approval by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to provide US$120mnof finance for the project. AzMeCo purchased the ICI process plant, originally based at Clear Lake inTexas, US, from Celanese and refurbished it in the US before shipping the equipment to Azerbaijan. It will have capacity of around 620,000tpa with completion scheduled for Q311. The financing packageprovided by EBRD includes a US$90mn loan and a US$30mn equity facility. The International Bank ofAzerbaijan will co-finance the project. Surplus output from the plant will be transported to the Black Seaport of Poti for export to the world markets. AzMeCo has secured gas supplies from Azerbaijan's statecompany Azerigazngl at a fixed price for 20 years. Capacity of the plant will be further increased aftercompletion of AzMeCo’s phase two investment program, which involves construction of a 255,000tpaammonia plant and 500,000tpa urea unit at the site. EBRD invested in the project on the premise that itwould stimulate the development of a petrochemical cluster at Karadagh, generating more investment andemployment opportunities.