April 30, 2025 16:08

While Western Europe sees polymer and intermediate plants shutting down—or at best, modernizing their aging infrastructure—a different dynamic is unfolding at its eastern edge.

Turkish conglomerate Rönesans Holding, one of Europe’s largest engineering and construction firms, has announced a major project in Ceyhan, near Adana, to build a new polypropylene (PP) production plant and liquid bulk terminal. The group is investing $2 billion, with $1.3 billion already secured from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Spain’s export credit agency Cesce.

The facility will have an annual production capacity of 472,500 tonnes of polypropylene, equivalent to roughly 17% of Turkey’s domestic demand for the polymer. The site will operate entirely on renewable energy and will also utilize hydrogen produced on-site as a fuel source, significantly reducing its environmental footprint.

The project is being developed in partnership with Sonatrach, which will act both as a shareholder and feedstock supplier. Stolt-Nielsen will handle operations at the river terminal, while additional partners include GIC, Meridiam Infrastructure, Sojitz, Samsung C&T, and TotalEnergies.

Beyond the industrial scope, Rönesans underscores the project’s strategic national importance. Turkey is among the world’s top importers of polypropylene, with domestic demand reaching 2.7 million tonnes annually, against a local production capacity of just 100,000 tonnes.

“The construction phase, involving specialized partners from 12 different countries, is well underway,” said Erman Ilicak, honorary chairman of Rönesans Holding. “Once operational, these projects will directly contribute USD 300 million annually to reducing Türkiye’s current account deficit.”

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