Iranian Investment Petrochemical Group is expanding operations and will contribute to the value chain of petrochemicals, the managing director, Rasoul Ashrafzadeh, said.
Founded in 2011 in Tehran, the company is a subsidiary of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) and has seven projects underway in different regions, ILNA reported.
"The ventures, estimated to cost $1billion, have made between 30-90% physical progress.”
Upon completion the new facilities will add at least 600,000 tons to the National Petrochemical Company’s current annual output of 50 million tons, Ashrafzadeh said.
One of the projects will boost output from Ilam Petrochemical Complex in the western Ilam Province. “Construction of two olefin plants and a sulfur recycling unit in the region is expected to end by May,” he added.
Ethylene production capacity in the complex will reach 350,000 tons per annum. Ilam Petrochemical Company manufactures a wide range of products 80% of which is exported.
Ethylene is the building block for a vast range of chemicals, from plastics to antifreeze solutions and solvents, and is also used for ripening fruits.
According to Ashrafzadeh, development of Crystal Melamine Plant and Urea Resins unit in Lordegan Petrochemical Company in western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province has made 30% progress. Urea is mainly used as fertilizer in agriculture and as raw material by other industries.
Other projects include construction of Sadaf Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province, which is almost halfway through and will produce 136,000 tons of Emulsion Styrene Butadiene Rubber (ESBR), and the Dehdasht Petrochemical Complex in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad.
Referring to development plans in Urmia Petrochemical Complex, he said melamine and poly-aluminum chloride plans are to be launched by summer. Located near Urmia Petrochemical Plant, the melamine factory will have 6 units and employ 950 people directly and 2,900 indirectly.
Regarding other schemes, he said plans have been made to raise output in methyl amine project in Songhor in Kermanshah Province. On the last venture, Ashrafzadeh said, “The sodium hydroxide expansion plan in Mahshahr, Khuzestan Province, is projected to become operational in 2022."
Ammonia Unit
In related news, the Oil Ministry news agency Shana quoted Mohsen Mahmoudi as saying that the ammonia unit of Lordegan Petrochemical Company has started production. “The unit will annually produce 677,000 tons of ammonia.”
Lordegan Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of the Iranian Investment Petrochemical Group, is located 55km off the city of Lordegan. When operational, it will create 2,600 direct and indirect jobs.
The main use of ammonia is in the production of fertilizers; ammonia is used directly as a fertilizer and in the production of materials such as ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate, mono ammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate and urea and other chemical fertilizers.
PGPIC is Iran’s largest petrochemical company with over 60 subsidiaries with almost 11% of Iran’s capital market. Its export revenue is said to be $8-9 billion per year. According to published reports PGPIC is the second biggest petrochemical exporter in the Middle East.
Tehran is making efforts to double annual petrochemical production from around 50 million tons by opening up the sector to foreign investment. The country seeks to diversify its economy largely dependent on oil exports and make better use of its hydrocarbon resources by producing petrochemicals with higher value-added.
