A total of 63 plans with a progress rate of 60-90% are under construction in the petrochemical industry, the head of board of directors at Iran’s Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation said.
“To complete the ventures, $25 billion in financial resources are needed,” Morteza Azizi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency on Tuesday.
Azizi was speaking on the sidelines of the First Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri’s meeting with Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif and petrochemical officials.
"A total of 42 other plans are to become operational based on the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan [2017-22], which require $58 billion in investment," he said, stressing that with the launch of the projects, Iran’s annual petrochemical production capacity will reach 230 million tons.
The nominal production capacity of 57 major petrochemical complexes, mostly concentrated in the cities of Mahshahr (Khuzestan Province) and Asalouyeh (Bushehr Province), stands at 62 million tons per year. Jahangiri referred to the reasonable price of petrochemical feedstock and the government’s guarantee for using foreign financial facilities as the industry’s main need and called for meeting the needs and the administration’s increased attention to the key sector.
"Iran’s enemies are putting efforts to pressure the country in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries," he said, noting that the country should develop these sectors in every way possible.
“The government is strongly determined to alleviate the problems of the lucrative industry, as it is one of the most important sectors in the development of the country.”
Underscoring the urgent need to use foreign exchange earned from the sale of petrochem products to further develop the country’s economy, the official said this is another sector that the enemies want to harm Iran’s economy.
Jahangiri said petrochemical managers are expected to prioritize national interests over their businesses’, as personal and guild interests can only be safeguarded if the national interests are protected. Reportedly, Iranian petrochemical revenues amounted to $1.1 billion in the month ending April 20.
The petrochemical complexes' production amounted to 4.7 million tons between March 21 and April 20. Of the total output, 1.3 million tons worth $8.5 million were sold locally to meet domestic needs.
