Bu Ali Sina Petrochemical Company in Mahshahr, Khuzestan Province, plans to install a new distillation tower and when it is up and running, the company’s annual profits will increase by $50 million as it will help with the production of paraxylene.
Being the largest tower of the country's petrochemical industry, the structure is designed and built by Iranian engineers and experts, using advanced technology, and will soon be installed at the paraxylene unit of the plant, the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana reported.
According to the project manager of the company's paraxylene unit, Omid Azemian, the tower weighs 1,200 tons and is 100 meters high.
“The paraxylene production unit, which is currently under construction, will be launched by the end of the current fiscal year [March 20, 2022], and its products will be used as feedstock in Shahid Tondgouyan Petrochemical Plant to produce polyethylene terephthalate [also known as PET],” he added.
Paraxylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon widely used as feedstock to produce industrial chemicals. It is produced by catalytic reformation of petroleum naphtha and used in the production of polymers and terephthalic acid for polyesters such as PET.
A subsidiary of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, Bu Ali Sina Petrochemical Company stretches over 36 hectares on the northwestern flank of the Persian Gulf.
Founded in 1998, the company processes gas condensate as feedstock to produce an estimated 1.75 million tons of aromatic products a year, including 350,000 tons of light naphtha, most of which will be converted to LPG and C5 raffinate, 500,000 tons of heavy naphtha and 600,000 tons of benzene, available in local and foreign markets.
BSPC products are sold to Bandar Imam Khomeini, Shahid Tondgouyan, Amir Kabir, Pars and Karoun petrochemical companies.
The Middle East, Southeast Asia and Europe are the main export destinations.
BSPC's exports through land borders quadrupled last year and since land exports have lower logistical costs, the company's revenues also increased. Its profits tripled last year compared to a year ago.
