Iran exported $1.494 billion worth of petrochemical products in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-August 22), according to Iran’s Petrochemical Commercial Company’s Managing Director Mehdi Sharifi Niknafs.
Niknafs said the country exported 2.263 million tons of petrochemical products during the five-month period, the IRNA news agency reported on Saturday.
Based on official statistics, Iran has a capacity to produce 60 million tons of petrochemical per year. The country’s annual petrochemical exports is currently about 17 million tons.
National Iranian Petrochemical Company’s Managing Director Abbas She’ri Moqaddam said in April that some $30 billion of investment opportunities have been identified in Iran’s petrochemical sector, which will be certainly welcomed by European and Asian investors after the sanctions against the country are lifted.
In June 2014, She’ri Moqaddam said Iran plans to boost annual petrochemical production capacity to 180 million tons from around 60 million tons currently.
Once the semi-finished petrochemical projects are completed and a number of planned petrochemical units come on stream, the country’s petrochemical output will be increased to 180 million tons per year, he added.