TEHRAN: Iran’s petrochemical exports rose 13% in the first seven months of the current fiscal year (March 21-Oct. 22) compared with the same period of last year, an official at the National Petrochemical Company said on Thursday. “Over the past seven months, about 13 million tons of petrochemical and polymer products, worth $6.5 billion, were exported,” Ali Mohammad Bosaqzadeh was also quoted as saying by NIPNA, NPC’s official news agency. The lion’s share of petrochemical exports is bound for India, China and South Korea, and the country is gaining more ground in Africa and Europe. Referring to the 9% rise in petrochemical production year-on-year, Bosaqzadeh added that the total output of Iranian petrochemical complexes amounted to 31 million tons, of which 10 million tons were sold to local buyers, mainly downstream petrochemical units and other industrial companies. The official noted that complexes in Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Economic Zone, Khuzestan Province, boosted production by 13% in the seven-month period YOY, while petrochemical plants in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in the city of Asalouyeh, Bushehr Province, increased output by 2%.
According to Bosaqzadeh, NPC’s director of production control, the output of other petrochemical complexes rose by 16%. “Total output included 13 million tons of base petrochemicals, 1.9 million tons of aromatics and 9 million tons of feedstock and fuel for petrochemical and industrial plants,” he said. Bosaqzadeh also said petrochemical companies such as Arya Sasol, Shiraz, Khorasan, Mehr and Urmia managed to meet up to 90% of their nominal production capacity in seven months. Having passed the 50-million-ton mark in the previous fiscal, Iran aims to ramp up production to 60 million tons by March 2018, as a string of petrochemical plant launches should increase nominal output capacity to 72 million tons annually.
