Close to $1 billion have been invested in the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone (Petzone) in Mahshahr, Khuzestan Province, on developing the infrastructure, which will boost petrochemical production in the region to 19 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year (March 20), managing director of the Petzone Organization said.
“About $7 billion worth of new petrochemical projects are currently underway in the region, the completion of which will create more than 4,800 jobs,” the Oil Ministry’s news agency Shana also quoted Omid Shahidinia as saying.
Stretching over 3,000 hectares, the Petzone is located along the northern coast of the Persian Gulf in Mahshahr. It was built to promote industrial development, especially in the upstream and downstream sectors by attracting new technologies and creating jobs.
The zone is a key industrial region on the southern flank of the oil province that is dotted with petrochemical facilities. It has access to international waters through Bandar Imam Port and is connected to Turkey and Central Asian countries by railroad.
According to Shahidinia, there are currently 30,000 people working directly in the Petzone.
“Currently, 20 million cubic meters of gas per day are supplied to the plants in Mahshahr as feed,” he said, adding that about 22% of the total production capacity of the country's petrochemical industry (90 million tons) belong to complexes in the southwestern city.
“There are 165 pipelines with a length of 394 km to transfer 16 products in the Petzone,” the official said.
Plans to Raise Output, Exports
In related talks, managing director of the National Petrochemical Company said that in addition to 23 petrochemical complexes operating in Mahshahr now, 10 more petrochemical projects are underway in the region.
Morteza Shah-Mirzaei appreciated the efforts made by previous governments and said that with the development plans being carried out now, the output capacity of the country's petrochemical industry will reach 200 million tons per year in 10 years.
Regarding exports, the official said intensive negotiations are underway with foreign countries to expand the market for Iranian petrochemical products.
Iran exported 27 million tons of petrochemical products during March 2020-21, earning $10 billion in revenues.
Reports show that natural gas, chemicals and downstream petrochemical products accounted for 58% of Iran’s non-oil export value during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Nov. 21).
Iran sold $31 billion worth of non-oil products in the 246-day period, of which $18 billion were generated by exporting polymers, gas, bitumen and methanol.
Revenues generated by selling polymers, methanol, urea and aromatics amounted to $4 billion, $2 billion, $1.3 billion and $700 million respectively during the period under review.
Close to 5 million tons of butane and liquefied gases have been sold in international markets. More than 100,000 tons of bitumen were also exported in the eight-month period.
China, Iraq, the UAE, Turkey and Afghanistan were among the main destinations of Iranian exports.
Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Economic Zone plays a key role in boosting Iran’s status in the global arena and its collaboration with tech firms can further help meet domestic needs and sell petrochemical products in international markets.
The Petzone’s petrochemical units create value-added and reduce the sale of oil and gas on which the economy has been dependent for decades.
Petrochemical plants in the zone have already indigenized a range of catalysts, pumps, valves, turbines and centrifuges. Their collaboration with knowledge-based enterprises will boost the implementation of projects in the region.
According to the National Petrochemical Company, 67 petrochemical plants across the country received 40 million tons of feedstock, including condensates, ethane, natural gas and naphtha, in the last fiscal year. The figure is expected to surpass 2 million barrels per day in five years.
Upon the launch of new projects, Iran’s annual revenues from the petrochemical industry will reach $50 billion by 2027.
