Azerbaijan Industry
Baku Harbor
Courtesy Azerbaijan International
During World War II, relocated and expanded factories in
Azerbaijan produced steel, electrical motors, and finished
weaponry for the Soviet Union's war effort. The canning and
textile industries were expanded to process foodstuffs and cotton
from Azerbaijan's fields. Azerbaijan's postwar industrial economy
was based on those wartime activities. Among the key elements of
that base were petrochemical-derived products such as plastics
and tires, oil-drilling equipment, and processed foods and
textiles (see
table 14, Appendix). In 1991 the largest share of
Azerbaijan's industrial output was contributed by the food
industry, followed by light industry (defined to include
synthetic and natural textiles, leather goods, carpets, and
furniture), fuels, and machine building. Significant food
processing and cotton textile operations are located in Gyandzha
in western Azerbaijan, and petrochemical-based industries are
clustered near Baku. The city of Sumgait, just north of Baku, is
the nation's center for steel, iron, and other metallurgical
industries.
The Soviet-era Azerbaijan Oil Machinery Company (Azneftemash)
company controls virtually all of Azerbaijan's oil equipment
industry. Once a major exporter of equipment to the rest of the
Soviet Union, Azneftemash has remained dependent since 1991 on
imports of parts from the other former Soviet republics. The
economic decline and the breakup of the union has disrupted
imports and caused an estimated output reduction of 27 percent in
the Azerbaijani oil equipment industry in 1992.
Data as of March 1994
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