Plans call for $1 billion investment in petrochemical projects by the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industrial Company (PGPIC) in the present Iranian year (ends March 2016), the company's managing director said, Shana news agency reported on Sunday.
The "PGPIC produced 18.5 million tons of petrochemicals last year," Adel Nejad-Salim said, adding that it is slated to reach 80 percent of its overall production capacity or nearly 20 million tons.
PGPIC produced 15.5 million tons of petrochemicals in 2013, although its overall capacity is estimated at 22 million tons per year.
However, Nejad-Salim singled out the shortage of feedstock as the major reason behind the difference in PGPIC's capacity and actual output, underlining the challenge has yet to be addressed.
PGPIC has around 60 subsidiaries with exports estimated at $8-9 billion per year. According to published reports, PGPIC was the second biggest petrochemical exporter in the Middle East with $8.2 billion exports.
According to estimates, Iran's annual petrochemical output could surpass 66 million tons by March 2016. The country produced more than 44 million tons of petrochemicals in the past year.
Iran aims to export $5 billion of petrochemicals to Europe per annum should the trade sanctions be lifted, according to the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation (APIC). The country on average generated $2 billion a year through exporting petrochemical products to the EU states in the pre-sanctions era, yet that could double upon the completion of several incomplete projects.
