In line with the government's drive to increase the share of value-added exports, the National Petrochemical Company aims to expand the country's petrochemical production map.
"The completion of projects with the help of holdings and domestic contractors is high on NPC's agenda for the current [fiscal] year [started March 21] to help reduce the sale of crudes," Farnaz Alavi, NPC's deputy for planning and development, was quoted as saying by NIPNA on Tuesday.
The official added that NPC aims to upgrade technology, equip companies with cutting-edge technical know-how and expand its foothold in world markets in the current fiscal year.
"The goal is to support the downstream petrochemical sector, develop the upstream sector and expand the growth of supplementary industries," she said.
Alavi also called for the government's financial support to help pave the way for domestic players to secure their presence in foreign markets.
According to Marzieh Shahdaei, the oil minister's first deputy, the completion of petrochemical projects will raise the country's nominal production capacity to 72 million tons a year.
“Upon the launch of new petrochemical projects this year, output is expected to reach 59 million tons," she added.
Shahdaei said the country can boost production capacity to 120 million tons a year by the end of the Sixth Economic Development Plan (2017-22), but it requires more than $70 billion in new investments, a major part of which needs to be funded by foreign companies.
Officials had earlier said they need $72 billion in foreign investments for 80 major petrochemical projects in line with plans to triple petrochemical production over a decade.
Two major ones, namely Marjan Petrochemical Complex—aka 7th Methanol Project—in Phase 2 of South Pars in Asalouyeh and Kaveh Methanol Company in Bushehr Province with a capacity of 1.65 and 2.3 million tons per year respectively, will become fully operational in summer.
According to Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the petrochemical industry has a "promising future".
The country aims to diversify its economy that is largely dependent on oil export revenues and make better use of its hydrocarbon reserves by producing petrochemicals with higher value-added.
The petrochemical sector is Iran’s second most valuable industry after oil and gas. To boost output capacity, renovation and optimization of several petrochemical plants are underway in different provinces.
Iranian petrochemical companies produced 55 million tons last year. Polymer and petrochemical exports exceeded 22 million tons valued over $12 billion.
According to NIPNA, the 55-million-ton output comprises 91% of the sector's outlook for the past fiscal.
Nouri Petrochemical Company shipped over $1.31 billion worth of products in the period, making it the biggest Iranian petrochemical exporter in terms of revenue. The company is among the world's largest producer of aromatics with an annual capacity of 4.5 million tons.
In terms of volume, Zagros Petrochemical Company, located in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Kangan, Bushehr Province, topped other producers by exporting 2.97 million tons of petrochemical products.
