Energy
0

Petrochem Exports Reach 2.5b Tons

Petrochem Exports  Reach 2.5b Tons
Petrochem Exports  Reach 2.5b Tons

Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company (IPCC) exported 2.5 million tons of petrochemical products, valued at $2.2 billion, since the beginning of this year (began March 21), managing director of IPCC said.

 Of this figure, China imported 70 percent, India 10%, Africa 9.9%, and Far East 5.2%. Southeast Asia and Oceania countries are also among the top buyers.

A total of 1,276 of petrochemical shipments were delivered to the above-mentioned countries.

From the total $10 billion petrochemical exports last year, 35 percent belonged to the IPCC (worth $3.56 billion). Taking into consideration the volume of exports as of this year, it is expected that IPCC's exports will rise compared with last year.

"Since official hard currency rates are unified with that of the market, and due to the consequent elimination of intermediaries, there is an actual demand for petrochemical products," Mehdi Sharifi was quoted by Shana news agency as saying.

Producers can rest assure of the availability of their required products in the bourse, and thus plan their purchases in proportion to their production.

Bridging the gaps between domestic and international selling prices has resulted in less smuggling of petrochemicals to neighboring countries, the official noted.

  40% of Non-Oil Exports

Petrochemicals account for 40 percent of non-oil exports, deputy minister of industry, mine, and trade said.

"The petrochemical industry is highly profitable, not only for investors, but also for the country's domestic economy," Mojtaba Khosro-Taj said, adding: "There is hardly any sector the profit of which is comparable with petrochemical industry."

It takes two to five years to generate return on investment in the petrochemical sector.

The fact that managers were chosen from among experts in the petrochemical industry, is one of the strong points of the current government, according to Khosro-Taj.

The profitability of petrochemical industry is in spite of western sanctions, which has restricted foreign investment in the energy industry. Transferring payments for sales and securing insurance for exports remain the biggest hindrances for petrochemical producers.

Iran has the capacity to produce 60 million tons of petrochemicals per year. However, the output now is at 40 million tons.

The petrochemical industry should be reviewed to reduce raw material exports, create more value-added and increase output of final products, said the deputy head of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) on Sunday.

"Currently, the petrochemical industry is one of the main pillars of economic development and is linked to most domestic industrial sectors," Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi said.

The country needs $33 billion of investment to complete some petrochemical projects with the total capacity to produce 55 million tons of petrochemicals.

 

Financialtribune.com