Iranian Petrochem Plant to Increase Ethylene Output

Morvarid Petrochemical Company in Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, has carried out feasibility studies on a plan to raise its ethylene production by 150,000 tons per year, bringing the plant’s ethylene output capacity to 650,000 tons.  

“Over the past two years, we have managed to increase the actual production of Morvarid Petrochemical Complex to 75% of the nominal capacity by boosting the plant’s feedstock,” Gholamreza Jokar, the company’s managing director, was also quoted as saying by NIPNA on Wednesday.

Jokar added that plans call for using Morvarid’s full production capacity in the next fiscal year that starts on March 21.

Morvarid Petrochemical Company supplies all its ethylene output to a 1,200-kilometer pipeline—known as the West Ethylene Pipeline—that runs from Asalouyeh in the south all the way to West Azarbaijan Province in the northwest.

On the plant’s output of mono-ethylene glycol (MEG), the official noted that 95% of the MEG output are exported to Asian countries, mainly China, India and Turkey, stressing that the company is making efforts to claim a share of the European market.

"To run the MEG unit at full capacity in the next fiscal, Morvarid needs feedstock from the nearby Damavand Petrochemical Company, which is yet to start production," Jokar said.

Tehran is making efforts to double annual petrochemical production capacity from around 60 million tons by opening up the sector to foreign investors. It has said over $70 billion in foreign investments are needed for 80 major petrochemical projects.

Rasoul Afsharzadeh, an official at the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, said on Tuesday 10 petrochemical projects worth about $9 billion are being developed by the company, which have made 10-90% physical progress.

  Growth in TPC Exports

According to Siavash Derafshi, Tabriz Petrochemical Company's chief executive officer, the plant has exported close to 162,000 tons of products in the last nine months, indicating a 29% increase compared with the corresponding period of last year.

"The commodities were mainly sold to African and Asian customers," he said, noting that more than 25,000 tons of petrochem items were shipped between Nov. 22 and Dec. 22, showing a 1.5% growth compared to that of previous month.

Derafshi added that of the 44,000 tons of manufactured polymers, 74% were delivered to international markets, including Europe.

Located in East Azarbaijan Province in northwest Iran, TPC's petrochemical products include raw polymers, polyethylene, polystyrene and various grades of a thermoplastic polymer known as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.

The lifting of international sanctions in January 2016 breathed new life into TPC.

The company boosted exports in 2016 by 67% from the previous year, as the removal of financial and trade barriers helped TPC expand supplies to Europe, Turkey and countries in the CIS region, a TPC statement announced in January.