Oil derivatives, polymers and natural gas accounted for $25 billion of Iran’s non-oil export value in the last fiscal year that ended on March 20, the head of the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union said.
“Iran sold $48 billion worth of non-oil products in 2021, of which $25 billion were generated by exporting downstream petrochemical products, gas, bitumen and methanol,” Hamid Hosseini was also quoted as saying by the Oil Ministry’s news portal.
The value of current year’s export of oil derivatives, chemicals and natural gas is estimated to reach $50 billion, comprising 58% of Iran’s non-oil export value, he added.
Giving a breakdown, Hosseini noted that more than 140,000 tons of bitumen were exported in the 12-month period.
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 were also sold in international markets.
National Petrochemical Company’s data show that in 2020, Iran accounted for 13% of the world's total methanol trade (85 million tons) and its main export destinations are Iraq, China, the UAE, India and South Korea.
Methanol export revenues in 2020 surpassed $2 billion.
China consumes 67% of the world's methanol output and needs to import this product for many years.
Iran is one of China’s key trading partners, accounting for 30% of total Chinese methanol import in the past three years and is likely to remain so.
Because methanol value-added chains, including methanol-to-olefins and propane dehydrogenation, are not yet complete in Iran, NPC has to sell methanol for $300 per ton to China where it is converted to propylene and sold for $1,200 per ton.
Traditionally, methanol is used as feedstock to produce chemicals such as acetic acid and formaldehyde, which in turn are used in products like adhesives, foams, plywood subfloors, solvents and windshield washer fluid.
In the petrochemical industry, methanol is used to create high-quality chemicals, the most important of which are formaldehyde, acetic acid, MTBE, methyl methacrylate, methyl chloride and methylamines, which are processed to produce other derivatives.
The global methanol market is expected to grow at a significant rate in the coming years, driven mainly by the increasing use of methanol (in the form of fuel and antifreeze agent) in the automotive industry.
The methanol industry has experienced an explosive growth, primarily in China and the United States, owing to significant developments in shale gas.
