Iran, Turkey Set to Ease Petrochemical Trade Rules

Tehran and Ankara are taking steps to ease petrochemical trade by scaling back Turkey's import duties on Iranian petrochemicals, an official at the Petrochemical Downstream Industries Department said on Wednesday.

“During recent negotiations in Turkey, the country expressed readiness to levy lower tariffs on certain Iranian petrochemical products,” Reza Mohtashamipour was also quoted as saying by NIPNA.

The official hoped that exports will increase, if the two countries reach an understanding on Turkey's import duties.

Mohtashamipour noted that Iran had earlier presented a list of 10 petrochemical products to Turkey for duty cuts and recently added five more products.

The proposed products include polyethylene terephthalate, toluene diisocyanate, polypropylene copolymer and polystyrene, besides polyethylene, methanol and urea, which were already in line to get cuts on import tariffs by Turkey.

Mohammad Lahouti, the chairman of Iran Export Confederation, told Mehr News Agency in August that a snag hindering the export of Iranian petrochemical products to Turkey has been tackled, returning the situation back to normal.

“The problem had arisen out of new rules imposed by Turkey, making it mandatory for export documents to be first approved by the Turkish Consulate in Iran, a lengthy process that led to huge truck queues on the Iranian side of border with Turkey and incurred higher costs,” he added.

Early this year, reports said Iran was facing restrictions in India's petrochemical market at the expense of Saudi Arabia.

"Anti-dumping rules against Iranian petrochemicals are still in place in India, but these restrictions have been removed for Saudi export companies," Hamed Vahedi, a member of the board of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, said in January.

According to the official, the Saudis had "lobbied" for easing and expanding their petrochemical sales to India to squeeze Iran out of the petrochemical market of the world's fastest-growing economy.

Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran are the top petrochemical exporters to India, but Iran is the only country that faced anti-dumping regulations.