Iran said on Friday that Germany’s BASF – the world’s largest chemical producer – plans to make an investment of as much as $4 billion in its petrochemical industry.
Marziyeh Shahdani, the managing director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), has been quoted by the media as saying that negotiations are underway with BASF to construct a petrochemical township in southern Iran.
The German company will have a share of 60 percent in the project which will be constructed in Parsian Special Industrial Zone.
Hamid Reza Rostami, the NPC director for planning affairs, said in December last year that BASF’s planned investment in Iran will also involve a guaranteed market as well as the transfer of technology.
“BASF has decided to make direct investment in Iran, bringing in capital, technology, management and a guaranteed market for products which we welcome,” said Rostami.
Iran’s officials had already announced that Germany’s Linde and Japan’s Mitsui are also negotiating with Iran over investments in the country’s petrochemical industry.
BASF and Linde sent their executives with German Minister of Economy Sigmar Gabriel to Iran in July to discuss investment and transfer of technology.
Iran has already unveiled plans to become the leading producer of petrochemicals in the Middle East by significantly expanding the range and volume of its petrochemical production.
Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh has said the lifting of sanctions would enable Iran to fulfill its 20-year vision plan, including its target to produce $70 billion of petrochemicals a year at current prices.
The country seeks to more than double this capacity in the next decade, which requires between $7 billion to $10 billion of annual investment.