Jam Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, is to increase sales by 33% compared to last year and will earn $800 million in sales by the end of the current calendar year in March, the managing director said.
“Our total sale was $600 million last year (March 2019-2020), which was 43% higher than the year before that,” ILNA quoted Mohammadreza Saeedi as saying.
The rise was in tandem with higher production and the company will boost output this year. JPC is one of the largest producers of olefins in Iran with annual production of 1.32 million tons of ethylene, 305,000 tons propylene, 115,000 tons butadiene, 100,000 tons of butane 1, 300,000 tons of polyethylene (PE), 300,000 tons of high density polyethylene (HDPE) and 300,000 tons of polypropylene, Saeedi said.
PE is the world's most versatile and widely produced polymer. So far, JPC has indigenized 13 polyethylene grades that were a monopoly of American and Italian firms and are extensively used in manufacturing car bumpers, gasoline tanks, pipes, fibers and packaging material.
The polyethylene market, driven by the global push to curb use and waste of plastic, is expected to grow by $40 billion during 2020-2024 as recycling is put on a higher pedestal in the developing and developed world.
Recycling plastics includes sorting plastic into different polymers, followed by the chipping and melting process. Soft plastics, including polyethylene bags and films, are also recycled.
Besides, recycling plastics helps conserve natural resources and energy. The process helps reduce the use of natural resources, such as water and petroleum, required to manufacture polyethylene bags and other products. This in turn helps manufacturers save production costs.
High density polyethylene is used for producing the so-called PE100 pipes that have higher long-term strength and are used in oil, gas water and wastewater networks, plastic bottles, corrosion-resistant piping, geomembranes and plastic lumber.
“We export polymer and chemical products to European and Asian markets,” the JPC boss said. China is one of the main export destinations for JPC products while Turkey and Pakistan are among other destinations.
The company expects to launch the first phase of its acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plant by March with a total annual capacity of 200,000 tons.
ABS is a hard, heat-resistant engineering plastic widely used in housing appliances, pipe fittings and automotive interior parts.
Regarding future plans of the company, Saeidi said, “Our focus is on the market where we are present, but we want to increase our market share. JPC also is planning to offer new products and it is here that R&D comes in.”
