Iran's Petrochem Sector Problems Surveyed

The Iranian petrochemical industry's revenue-generating potential notwithstanding, the 60-year-old sector has long been grappling with problems that have slowed down its development, the head of Energy Commission at Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture said.
“Low diversity of products, lack of investment, sanctions, slow pace of completing value chain projects, absence of long-term plans and constant change of policies have posed formidable obstacles to the industry,” Reza Padidar was also quoted as saying by the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad on Thursday.
The official drew a parallel between the petrochemical industries of Iran and South Korea and said although South Korea’s petrochemical sector started to operate 20 years after Iran’s, they are producing close to 240 kinds of products, while Iranian product basket is limited to 40.
In fact, domestic companies have never prioritized diversification of commodities.