Development Projects Will Help Reduce Petrochemical Imports Worth $1 Billion

Over 30 projects have been planned to reduce the import of petrochemical products worth over $1 billion, the National Petrochemical Company’s director for planning and development said.
“Annually, about $1.5 billion of petrochemical products are imported. However, with the help of 33 development projects, their import will reduce by 70%,” IRNA also quoted Hassan Abbaszadeh as saying.
“With the implementation of these projects, NPC also seeks to diversify the range of petrochemical products and help complete the value chain in the petrochemical industry,” he added.
The official noted that development projects, which need an investment of $3.3 billion, will use the remaining feedstock to produce about 20 new commodities, including acrylic acid and propylene oxide.
Currently, 50 projects are underway across the country to increase petrochemical output and help develop the downstream sector.
The annual production capacity of Iran's petrochemical industry will soon reach 100 million tons per year from the current 90 million tons per annum and plans are underway to boost the same to 135 million tons in six years. 
The petrochemical industry has played a key role in Iran’s economic growth, as it creates value-added and reduces the sale of oil and gas on which the economy has been dependent for decades.
With abundant hydrocarbon reserves and new private sector investments, Iran is working hard to maintain its global status in the key sector and broaden its scope.
In related news, Behzad Mohammadi, managing director of NPC, has announced that Iran’s revenues from the petrochemical industry will grow by 230% in the next six years.
Annual revenues from the petrochemical industry will reach $50 billion by 2027. Last year, Iran exported around $15 billion of petrochemicals, he added.
Iran did not attract significant foreign investments in this period and had to rely on its own resources, because of international and US sanctions.
According to NPC, 67 petrochemical plants across the country received 40 million tons of feedstock, including condensates, ethane, natural gas and naphtha, in the last fiscal year, which was equivalent to 1 million barrels of crude per day. The figure is expected to surpass 2 million barrels per day in six years.
With the inauguration of new complexes, the number of petrochemical plants will reach 77, up 15% compared to the present.
Almost 60% of the petrochemical projects are in Asalouyeh and Mahshahr in southern and southwestern Iran, and the rest are scattered nationwide.
Among the sectors affiliated to the oil industry, the petrochemical sector is the most important one because it produces the most added value.