Iran’s Pet-Chem Industry Outdoing US Sanctions

According to the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), Saeedi said the company had developed detailed plans for enhancing its output and carrying out new projects.

“Despite the sanctions and reduced price of polymer products, our company has been able to materialize its sales and production goals,” he said.

The official further added that the sanctions had indeed created some trouble for the company, adding, that, however, by tapping domestic capabilities “we can continue on our path to prosperity and success”.

He said Jam Petrochemical Plant was focused on promoting the status quo, developing market presence, diversifying products, and production of new polymer grades. 

Last Tuesday, CEO of the Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC) Jafar Rabiyee said that pet-chem industry in Iran is moving forward steadfastly, reassuring that both production and exports of the sector are meeting the schedules, despite US pressures and economic bans against Tehran.

Addressing a gathering of senior petrochemical executives in the Northwestern city of Mashhad on Tuesday, Rabiyee said, “Fortunately, production and export of petrochemicals is in a sustainable manner.”

He added that the PGPIC has managed the sanctions’ impact on the petrochemical sector, expressing optimism that other organizations and sectors of the country could bypass the sanctions, too.

The official further said that the petrochemical sector is the main pillar of the country’s resistance despite the sanctions.

CEO of the National Petrochemical Company Behzad Mohammadi, who was present at the same event, said that the Iranian petrochemical industry is planned to gain 6.2 percent of the global petrochemical output by 2025.

The official said the industry in Iran has continued on its path despite the restrictions caused by the sanctions, however noting that the Iranian petrochemical producers need to balance their output in order to survive in the intensely competitive market in the world.

Some 56 active petrochemical plants in Iran are now consuming an equivalent of 650,000 b/d of crude oil as feed, he said, adding the number of plants would jump to 83 by 2021, consuming an equivalent of 1.4 mbd of crude oil as feed.

Mohammadi also added that the number of operational plants in the country is expected to climb to 109 by 2025 which will consume an equivalent of 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil.

The NPC CEO further said that Iran’s annual petrochemical revenue has now reached $17 billion from only $200,000 back in 1979, the year the Islamic Revolution became victorious. He also said the sector's revenues would will 37 billion dollars per year by 2025.

A day earlier, Chief Executive of Infrastructure Supply Company of Chabahar Free Trade Zone Mehdi Kouhi announced that Iran will complete construction process for as many as 17 petrochemical plants in the Southeastern port city of Chabahar by 2024, adding that the projects will increase the country’s pet-chem output by 4.6 million tons.

Earlier this month, CEO of the Tondgouyan Petrochemical plant (TPC) Seyed Reza Qassemi Shahri said that the TPC, the largest supplier of PET in Iran, had recorded a superb performance in the first 7 months of the current local calendar year (March 21-October 22) with an output at 103% of its nameplate capacity.

He added that the company had boosted its output and its output exceeded the plant’s nameplate capacity in the first 7 months of the current calendar year.

Last month, Caretaker of the Planning and Development Management of Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Ali Asqar Goudarzi Farahani said that the country is expecting two leaps in its petrochemical production in 2021 and 2025 to hit the yearly output of 133 million tons in 5 years.

A week earlier, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh had said that his country is working on the development of refineries and petrochemical complexes along Makran coasts, a region comprising about 1,500 km of shoreline along the Sea of Oman and the Indian Ocean.

Zanganeh had announced in mid-September that the country has made great progress in the production of different petrochemicals and will further expand its capacities in future.

In relevant remarks earlier in September, Iranian Government Spokesman Ali Rabiyee had also downplayed the effects of US sanctions against his country, stressing that Iran had many options for exporting its crude.

"Despite the espionage acts by Israel and the US, I clearly declare that we sell our oil as much as we need through planning," Rabiyee said.

He explained that Iran has 15 neighbors and is located in a region with many opportunities, and added, "We will be able to sell our oil through different methods and fortunately, there is good progress in advancing oil discoveries and plans."