Middle East Kimia Pars Petrochemical Company started operations in the 2nd phase of Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Assaluyeh, Bushehr Province, on Monday.
According to the Oil Ministry’s news portal, natural gas is the feedstock of company (completed in four years) that has been designed to annually produce 1.7 million tons of methanol.
Built over 8 hectares in South Pars free zone at an estimated cost of $460 million, the plant will need an estimated 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Iran’s yearly gas production is now in the neighborhood of 320 billion cubic meters.
As part of the project, a Danish catalysis company (Holdor Topsoe) provided licensing, catalysts and equipment for the new plant.
Petrofarhang (a subsidiary of the Teachers’ Investment Fund) owns 84% of the plant.
China, which has major methanol-to-olefins capacity, is a natural target market for Iranian firms
Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol amongst other names, is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive alcoholic odor similar to that of ethanol.
The National Petrochemical Company data show Iran accounts for 8% of the world's total methanol production with exports mainly to Iraq, China, the UAE, India and South Korea.
In 2017, Iran’s methanol export to international markets earned over $1 billion (one dollar then was worth 35,000 rials).
According to data from statistical agency Eurostat, Iran methanol exports to European states including Italy totaled 128,942 tons in 2017, up 43% year-on-year and the highest since 2011.
China, which has major methanol-to-olefins capacity, is a natural target market for Iranian firms. Its top five importers account for 60% of Iranian methanol.
In the petrochemical industry methanol is used to create high-quality basic chemicals, the most important of which are formaldehyde, acetic acid, MTBE, methyl methacrylate, methyl chloride and methylamines, which are processed to produce other derivatives.
