About 226,000 tons of methanol have been produced at SOCAR Methanol plant to date, Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR told Trend.

The company noted that it is planned to produce 360,000 tons of product by the end of the year, adding that about 97 percent of this volume will be exported.

SOCAR Methanol, the sole of its kind in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, started sales of its products in January 2014.

The plant’s capacity is 650,000-700,000 tons of products per year.

SOCAR acquired the plant from Aqrarkredit non-bank credit organization [which also manages the troubled assets of the International Bank of Azerbaijan], to which the plant was transferred by decision of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers as a debt to state organizations. The cost of the plant was estimated at $520 million.