Domestic companies are facing chronic shortages of polyethylene terephthalate, commonly known as PET because the key raw material is being exported in bigger volumes.
According to data provided by the Trademap website, Iran imported 90,000 tons of PET worth $100 million in 2017, whereas the same amount could have been produced by domestic firms, Mehr News Agency reported.
Monoethylene glycol (MEG) is an important raw material used in manufacturing PET. Of the total 1.3 million tons of MEG produced in the country, 1 million tons is unusually exported leaving barely 300,000 tons for home consumption.
Exporting PET has higher value-added than MEG. Increasing PET production also can help raise the output of domestic companies in different sectors.
PET is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibers for clothing, containers for liquids and food, thermoforming for manufacturing, and in combination with glass fiber for engineering resins.
The majority of the world’s PET production is for synthetic fibers (in excess of 60%), with bottle production accounting for about 30% of global demand. In the context of textile applications, PET is referred to by its common name, polyester, whereas the acronym PET is generally used in relation to packaging.
Construction has started of a petrochemical complex in Andimeshk, Khuzestan Province. It will annually produce 200,000 tons of MEG and 25,000 tons of ethylene glycol (EG).
The project will help develop the value chain of ethane and the plant will consume 550,000 cubic meters of gas per day when fully operational.
However, Ahmad Hosseini, an expert in the petrochemical industry, says production of value-added products from ethane and MEG is still being ignored as the new project does nothing to augment PET production.
Ethane is among the high value-added products used as feedstock in petrochemical plants. Its production has doubled in five years. Iran produced 4 million tons of ethane in 2014. Now the output is 8 million tons.
Domestic demand for ethane is 5.85 million tons and the rest is exported. Each ton of the gas generates at least $1,000 in export revenue.
“PET production will generate significant value for exports and help create jobs,” Hosseini told the agency.
The government has said it wants to diversify the oil-dependent economy and make better use of its hydrocarbon reserves by producing petrochemicals and other higher value-added goods.
“One of the directions that can and should be taken into consideration is that the National Petrochemical Company authorize the use of ethane as feedstock on the condition the companies produce PET,” he added.
Petrochemical is Iran’s most important industry after oil and gas. The country's annual output is almost 62 million tons and is expected to exceed 65.5 million tons generating $14 billion before the present is out on March 20.
