The National Petrochemical Company has devised a feedstock discount scheme for investors in the industrial units of Mokran Petrochemical Complex in Chabahar in southern Iran, Negin Mokran Development Petrochemical Company's managing director said.
"Since feedstock price is among the main concerns of investors in petrochemical complexes, three discount packages, each with a discount rate of 10% has been offered for those keen on making investment in Mokran projects," Mohammad Reza Movasaqinia was also quoted as saying by Shana on Sunday.
"The first package will be offered to all Mokran investors as per the government's incentive on establishing industrial units in underdeveloped regions," he said. The outlook also plays a significant role in fulfilling the Oil Ministry's corporate social responsibility toward oil-rich regions, a majority of which need better attention. Movasaqinia added that "the second package will be offered to those investing on second-stage projects that involve expanding the value-added products".
"The third package will be extended to those participating in third-stage projects that involve completing value-added chains."
Mokran units' operations will be divided into three stages. The first involves converting natural gas to methanol used as feedstock in the second stage whose product is olefins. In the last stage, olefins and aromatics are used as feedstock in downstream industries. The new incentives are specifically designed to help petrochem investors have a say in international markets.
"Among other incentives is the 20-year tax exemption due to the hub's location in a free zone. Moreover, foreign investors can own 100% of the shares in Mokran's projects," he added.
Movasaqinia noted that the Mokran project's goal is to secure development rights for highly advantaged locations with the right combination of attributes such as local government support, port facilities, sufficient land and natural gas supply for the immediate supply of gas to methanol projects.
"In addition, 20,000 people will be employed upon the completion of all three phases," he said.
The completion of Mokran's first phase development project by March 2019 will add 8.5 million tons of methanol to the country's total output, currently standing at 60 million tons.
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 estimated that over $70 billion in foreign investments are needed for 80 major petrochemical projects.
The petrochemical sector is Iran’s second-most valuable industry after oil and gas. Tehran earned $9.55 billion from petrochemical exports last year, official data show. Petrochemical consignments went mostly to Asia, Europe and South America.
