The worth of Iran’s petrochemical production is planned to rise about 30 percent to $22 billion by the next two years, said Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.
Zanganeh made the remarks on February 13 in a ceremony organized by Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) for introducing Marzieh Shahdaie as the new managing director of the company, the Shana news agency reported.
Zanganeh said the country’s petrochemical output is planned to reach $18 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2016).
In December 2015, Mohammad-Hassan Peyvandi, the deputy managing director of the NPC, said Iran’s annual petrochemical output is planned to reach 46 million tons by the end of this calendar year.
He put the country’s petrochemical production at 44 million tons in the previous calendar year.
Also, Ali-Mohammad Basaqzadeh, the control manager of the NPC, says Iran’s petrochemical production is forecast to rise 8-12 percent in the next calendar year.
According to him, the country’s petrochemical complexes are planned to use 81 percent of their nominal production capacity by the end of current Iranian year.
Iran plans to raise its petrochemical production to around 129 million tons by the end of the country’s sixth five-year development plan (2021).
Officials say the country has the capacity to produce 60 million tons of petrochemicals per annum.
*** ‘Petchem complexes’ feedstock, an agenda of oil ministry’
Zanganeh further said that supplying feedstock to the petrochemical complexes in the country is an agenda in Iranian Oil Ministry.
Meeting the feedstock requirement of the petrochemical complexes will make a great change in the country, the minister highlighted.
*** ‘More foreign finance required for petchem development’
Elsewhere in his remarks, Zanganeh stated now that the sanctions are being lifted against the country, more foreign finance should be used for development of Iran’s petrochemical sector.
On January 27, Shahdaie said foreign companies mainly from Europe and East Asia are seeking to make investment in the implementation of Iranian petrochemical projects now that the sanctions are being removed against the country.
She mentioned Iran’s huge reserves of energy, its strategic location as well as domestic capabilities and expert manpower as the country’s advantages for the attraction of foreign investment.
*** ‘Most use of hydrocarbon resources for petchem production’
Addressing the same ceremony, Shahdaie, the former director for projects in NPC who was appointed as the new managing director of the company on February 8, mentioned macro planning for the most use of Iran’s hydrocarbon recourses specially natural gas in production of various types of petrochemical products as one of the main plans of the NPC.
She referred to creation and development of infrastructures required in the petrochemical industry and also laying the ground for the attraction of foreign investment to this industry as the other plans of the company.
Last month, Shahdaie said that the Iranian petrochemical sector should attract $8-10 billion finance per annum mainly through foreign direct investment.
“We are making our most efforts to attract foreign investment for the implantation of Iran’s petrochemical projects,” the official stressed.
Foreign companies have already greatly welcomed making investment in the Iranian petrochemical industry, she also highlighted.