A $70 million contract was signed between Sonqor Chemical Industries Company and two local firms to build Iran’s first methylamine plant, director of the Iranian Investment Petrochemical Group said Wednesday.
“The Bam Dej Tarh Consulting Engineering Co and Petro Nirou Saba Co have been assigned to construct a methylamine production facility in Sonqor County, Kermanshah Province,” Rasoul Ashrafzadeh was quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry news portal.
The EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contract was signed by Navid Shahidnia, head of Sonqor Chemical Industries Company and (unnamed) representatives from the two firms on Tuesday in Kermanshah.
“Timeline for the project is 2023 and it will expand and complete the value chain of ammonium and methanol in the key petrochemical sector,” Ashrafzadeh said.
Ten acres have been allocated for the project. According to the official, the unit will produce 23 million tons of monomethylamine, dimethylamine and trimethylamine per year.
It will buy feedstock, namely ammonium and methanol, from the subsidiaries of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC).
Established in 1990s, Bam Dej Tarh Co and Petro Nirou Saba Co implement engineering design and procurement projects in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
The Iranian Investment Petrochemical Group has seven other projects at hand that have made between 30-90% physical progress.
The projects are expected to add 600,000 tons to NPCC’s current annual output of 60 million tons.
A colorless gas or a liquid, methylamine is used for making pharmaceuticals, insecticides, paint removers, surfactants, rubber chemicals.
PGPIC is Iran’s largest petrochemical company with 60 subsidiaries and 11% capital market. Its annual export revenue is said to be $8-9 billion and according to published reports it is the second biggest petrochemical exporter in the Middle East.
The government is making concerted efforts to double petrochemical production 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.
