Hamid Mollazadeh
Iran’s petrochemical industry has emerged as one of the country’s most resilient economic pillars, generating $24 billion in direct revenue in 2024 despite sanctions and global market pressures. According to official data, Iran exported 29 million tons of petrochemical products worth $13 billion, while domestic sales totaled 13 million tons valued at $11 billion. This performance positions the sector as a crucial source of foreign currency and industrial value creation at a moment when Iran’s broader economy faces structural constraints.
Today, Iran’s nominal petrochemical production capacity stands at 100 million tons per year, the result of nearly $90 billion in investment over the past four decades. The government’s seventh development plan aims to accelerate this trajectory by adding 35 million tons of new nominal capacity by 2028. This expansion focuses on polymers, propylene, ethylene, aromatics, and the completion of mid-stream and downstream value chains—areas that are essential for enhancing profitability.
Hamidreza Ajami, the investment director at the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), emphasized the sector’s macroeconomic role: “In recent years, petrochemicals have supplied half of the country’s annual foreign currency needs—around $12 to $13 billion, sometimes more.” He added that petrochemicals account for 25% of Iran’s non-oil exports, with some reports placing this share as high as 30%, and generate 20% of Iran’s total industrial value added.
Founded in the early 1960s, NPC has guided the sector’s development, from the construction of major complexes to policy formulation. The industry’s rapid expansion in the 1990s and 2000s cemented its place as a strategic export engine and a stabilizing force in Iran’s economy. By the start of 2024, which marked the beginning of the seventh development plan, nominal capacity had reached 96 million tons, rising to nearly 100 million tons today.
Iran’s petrochemical portfolio spans a wide range of products, including base chemicals such as ethylene, propylene, aromatics, and methanol—produced by flagship complexes like Nouri, Bou AliSina, Bandar Imam, Jam, Maroun, and Shazand. Mid-stream products range from glycols and ammonia to styrene and PVC, while downstream outputs include polymers, resins, elastomers, fertilizers, detergents, and industrial solvents. This diversity has enabled Iran to maintain or even expand its export footprint in recent years, despite sanctions and logistical barriers. Still, the path to higher value creation requires more than capacity expansion. To become a globally competitive player, Iran must deepen its downstream chains, attract technology-oriented foreign partners, improve export management, and diversify markets. With robust feedstock and infrastructure, the potential is clear—but realizing it depends on strategic reform and sustained investment.
