A deputy oil minister announced that 10 petrochemical complexes are planned to go on stream in the current Iranian year (ending March 20, 2017), all of which will produce exportable materials.
“Last month, two petrochemical plants, namely Lorestan and Mahabad, became operational and two to three other complexes, including urea and ammonia units of Shiraz Petrochemical Company that have a one-million-ton production capacity, as well as the second phase of Morvarid Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh, are ready for inauguration,” Marzieh Shahdaei was also quoted as saying by IRNA.
Lorestan and Mahabad petrochemical complexes are each capable of producing 300,000 tons of polyethylene and 30,000 tons of butene-1—a type of olefin used in the manufacture of other chemical products—per annum.
Iran has formed a strong belt of petrochemical plants stretching from its southern shores in the Persian Gulf region all the way through its western and northwestern provinces.
Shahdaei, who is also managing director of National Petrochemical Company, added that different units of Pardis Petrochemical Company, in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in southern Bushehr Province, will soon become operational.
Stressing that the output of the complexes will be of export quality, the official said the country’s first priority is to meet domestic needs and then export the surplus production.
On the current status of Iran’s petrochemical industry that survived under the sanctions regime, Shahdaei noted that the industry is experiencing “suitable” conditions and all complexes are working without any interruption, unless they undergo maintenance operations.
She underlined that circumstances are not like those of the past when domestic warehouses were full of petrochemical products and some complexes’ production had been halted due to a surplus.
Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in a statement earlier in May that Iran is planning to earn $40 billion a year from its flourishing petrochemical industry.
"Petrochemical production capacity will rise by 8 million tons in the current year. This will raise the value of petrochemical production by $4 billion," Zanganeh told Shana.
Nominal production capacity currently stands at over 60 million tons a year, but plans call for doubling the volume by 2021 and raising the output to an ambitious 180 million tons a year by 2025.
Iran’s petrochemical industry, the country’s second biggest source of income, has experienced a steady growth in the past few years.
