Iran plans to increase petchem output by 12 million tons

ASSALOUYEH,Dec.30(MNA) - Iran plans to boost petrochemical production by 12 million tons by the end of spring next year (June 20, 2013), National Petrochemical Company Managing Director Abdolhossein Bayat said on Saturday. The NPC managing director made the remarks on the sidelines of a ceremony held to inaugurate two petrochemical projects, the Kavian Petrochemical Plant and the West Ethylene Pipeline, in the southern port city of Assalouyeh. The Kavian Petrochemical Plant will increase the country’s petrochemical production capacity by one million tons to 56.6 million tons, he added. The West Ethylene Pipeline, which extends 1,200 kilometers from Assalouyeh in the south to Kermanshah in the west, will feed 13 petrochemical complexes, Bayat stated. The petrochemical plant and the ethylene pipeline cost 6.5 trillion rials (about $530 million) and ten trillion rials (about $815 million) to be completed, he said, adding that the projects will create about 2,000 direct jobs and 20,000 to 30,000 indirect jobs. In November, Bayat said that about $80 billion in investment opportunities have been identified in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the Iranian petrochemical industry, which is taking great steps toward development. China and countries in Western Europe are the main recipients of Iran's petrochemical exports, followed by countries in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and Latin America, he noted. Iran is seeking new markets for its petrochemical products. Toward this end, the NPC has been identifying new export targets for the past two years, and boosting exports of polymer products is on the agenda. In April, Bayat said that Iran exported $14 billion worth of petrochemical products to 60 countries during the previous Iranian calendar year (March 2011-March 2012). He added that $10.5 billion of oil revenues will be allocated for the development of the national petrochemical industry.