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Iran To Launch 17 Petrochemical Projects By March 2021

By Orkhan Jalilov August 6, 2020

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Iran earned $10 billion from petrochemical exports and $5 billion from selling petrochemicals in domestic markets between March 2019 and March 2020. / Lotus-marine.com

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has said the country had planned to inaugurate 17 petrochemical projects by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2021.

In an inauguration through a video-conference on Thursday, Rouhani said that Iran has inaugurated four petrochemical projects so far and will continue to open 13 others by March 20, 2021. The inauguration was dedicated to three petrochemical industry projects worth about $1.6 billion that include Kaveh Methanol company in Bushehr Province, Middle East Kimia Pars petrochemical complex, and Lorestan Catalyst petrochemical complex

“23 years ago, the revenue of the country from petrochemical products was just one billion dollars; before his government, it was $11 billion; and until the end of the Iranian year [March 20, 2021], it will double,” Rouhani added, referring to Iran's previous president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The CEO of Kaveh Petrochemical Plant, Ebrahim Asgarian announced at the inauguration ceremony on August 6 that the facility was built with a total investment of $950 million, and it would generate $400 million annually.

The facility is the world’s largest methanol producer with a daily production capacity of 7,000 tons of the chemical. It is developed for an overall production of 2.3 million tons of methanol.

In July, CEO of National Petrochemical Company (NPC), Behzad Mohammadi said that Iran earned $10 billion from petrochemical exports between March 2019 and March 2020, and the remaining $5 billion has come from selling petrochemicals in domestic markets.

According to the Managing Director of National Petrochemical Company of Iran, Behzad Mohammadi, in total, 27 petrochemical projects with an investment of $17 billion is planned to be inaugurated during the next two years, out of which 17 plants will start operating by March 2021.

“In the second jump that would see 27 projects come online by March 2022, the petrochemical production capacity will rise from the current 66 million tonnes to 100 million tonnes,” Mohammadi said, adding that income from the petrochemical industry would also increase from $15 billion to $25 billion.

He went on to add that after the third jump, the production capacity will rise from 100 million tonnes to 130 million tonnes, which would lead the income from petrochemicals to hit $34 billion by March 2025.

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh said during a ceremony to launch 3 major petrochemical projects on Thursday that the country’s petrochemical production capacity had doubled since 2013, ever since Iran's incumbent President Hassan Rouhani took the office, adding that in the period between 2013 and 2019, 18 petrochemical projects came on stream in Iran.

"One of the most important tasks of the petrochemical industry is to prevent the sale of raw materials by completing the value chain in the oil and gas industry, as well as supplying downstream feedstock for the domestic industries while preventing more than $5 billion in foreign currency from leaving the country annually," the minister said.