More than $6 billion worth of petrochemical products was exported in the first eight months of the present Iranian calendar year (March-November 2014), managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) said, Mehr news agency reported Saturday.
“Revenues from petrochemicals are expected to reach $12 billion by the end of the year (March 2015),” Abbas Shari-Moghadam said, adding that reaching the target depends on steady gas supply to refineries in the cold season.
Falling oil prices do not have a significant impact on petrochemical complexes which use natural gas as feedstock. However, fluctuations in the crude market have had their impact on petrochemical units whose feedstock are naphtha and liquid fuel, thus, resulting in decreasing export revenues, the official noted.
BIPC Exports
The Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex (BIPC) exported more than 3,386 tons of petrochemicals in the March-November period, managing director of the Complex Reza Amiri said. “Production capacity was 4,587 tons, meaning the BIPC has operated with 73 percent of capacity so far,” he said, underlining shortage of gas and gas condensate supply as a major reason behind the untapped capacity.
India, China, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries are among major customers of the BIPC, which has plans to expand exports to European and south American markets.
