The National Petrochemical Company's output reached over 13 million tons in three months, the production manager said.
"The country’s 57 petrochemical complexes produced over 13.2 million tons between March 21 and June 21,"Qodratollah Farajpour was quoted as saying by Shana, the Oil Ministry news agency.
Giving a breakdown on NPC output, Farajpour said base petrochemicals accounted for 41% (5.4m tons) of the total output. Petrochemical feedstock, polymers, fertilizers and aromatics constituted 26% (3.4m tons), 12 % (1.7m tons), 12% (1.6m tons) and 8% (1.1m tons) of the entire production range.
Bulk of the petrochemical infrastructure is based in the southern regions off the Persian Gulf where water supply is less of a concern and proximity to the international waterway makes transport and shipment more feasible and cost-effective.
According to the official, NPC's urea fertilizer output in the last three months stood at 1.5m tons.
"Most petrochemical plants namely Kavian and Pardis complexes in Asalouyeh as well as the Amrkabir and Arvand plants in Khuzestan Province are planning to boost output as per their overall development plans," Farajpour said.
Initiatives are aimed not only at producing propylene and olefins from methanol but also constructing natural gas plants to receive more fuel as feedstock.
Farajpour said due to lack of sufficient feedstock, output at Amirkabir company is 40% below the nominal capacity.
"NPC production is projected to rise 17% by the end of the current fiscal next March 20 compared to last year's corresponding period," he said.
Nominal annual output capacity of the companies together stands at 62 million tons, while actual production amounted to about 58 million tons last year.
Iran earned $9.55 billion from petrochemical exports last year, official data show. Companies in Asia, Europe and South America companies were the main buyers.
