Construction of 6 petrochemical plants in Iran is expected to be completed by the end of the present Iranian calendar year (March 2015), adding another 2 million tons to petrochemical production capacity, said the coordination and supervision director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC).
Ali Mohammad Basaghzadeh said, “Production capacity of petrochemical and polymers has reached 60 million tons per year and will increase by 2 million tons once the new plants come on stream.” The higher figure will be subject to completion of new phases of the South Pars field in the Persian Gulf, Mehr news agency reported.
The new plants include phase 2 of Kavian Petrochemical Co. with an annual production capacity of 1 million tons and phase 2 of Karoon Petrochemical Co. as well as Mahabad, Lorestan, Takhte Jamshid and Hegmataneh complexes.
Kavian -as the biggest ethylene manufacturing plant in the world- is now working at 50 percent capacity due to a lack of feedstock, but with the inauguration of phases 15 to 18 of South Pars field in the Persian Gulf and increase in the production of ethane, phase 2 of Kavian complex could become operational by March 2015.
Kavian plant will supply feedstock to several petrochemical plants in the west of Iran via an ethylene pipeline.
Hegmataneh complex is also undergoing fault-detection tests and the unit is expected to be complete in the near future. The complex will allow the production of certain grades of PVC for special needs.
Basaghzadeh stressed that the production of olefin (a type of feedstock) at Pars Petrochemical Co. increased this year, thanks to increase in the export of liquefied gas and resolution of some production issues.
