The value of Iran's petrochemical output will increase by $5.1 billion by the end of the current Iranian year that ends in March 2017, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said on Tuesday.
He made the statement on the sidelines of a ceremony to launch the third urea and ammonia production unit of Shiraz Petrochemical Company in the city of Marvdasht in Fars Province, Shana reported.
The increase stems from an estimated $5.4 billion in petrochemical investment in the present fiscal year.
Iran produced $23 billion worth of petrochemical products last year and exports reached $10 billion.
The new unit of Shiraz Petrochemical Company has an annual production capacity of 1.075 million tons of urea and 680,000 tons of ammonia.
It raises annual urea and ammonia production capacity to 4.5 million tons and 5.5 million tons, respectively.
Zanganeh noted that the petrochemical complexes of Lorestan, Takht-E Jamshid, Mahabad, Urmia and Marvdasht came on stream after President Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013.
He added that the petrochemical plants Kavian-2, Morvarid, Karun-2, Kordestan, Pardis-3, the urea and the ammonia units in Asalouyeh and a methanol unit in Dayyer County in Bushehr Province will become operational by March.
In the first half of next fiscal year Iran will complete the construction of petrochemical plants of Hegmataneh, Marjan, Marjan and the first phase of Ibne Sina, according to Zanganeh.
The government’s 1/5 year petrochemical projects need a combined investment of $8 billion, which will raise annual sales by $6.7 billion, the minister stressed.
Underscoring the importance of developing the downstream sector of the petrochemical industry, he said that Iran should use foreign investment, public capital and the National Development Fund of Iran to finance petrochemical projects.
Iran plans to raise petrochemical production capacity to 120 million tons per year by 2021 and to 180 million tons by 2025.
