TEHRAN (PIN) – Totally 2.519 million tons of petrochemical products was exported in the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21, 2007).

The export-bound products fetched the country 1.383 billion dollars. Liquefied gas weighing 800 thousand tons was the main commodity Iran exported during the period. The value of petrochemicals exported in the first quarter of Iranian year stood at 981 million dollars. Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company (IPCC) exported over 1.7 million tons of different types of petrochemical products to the international markets. Methanol, ethylene, propylene, butadiene, dichloride ethylene, LAB, and PTA constitute the main basic products the country exports to foreign countries. Propane, butane, pyrolyse gasoline, pentane plus, and heavy slice are the export-bound by-products and fuels while benzene, paraxylene, and heavy slice of aromatic are the main aromatic products Iran exports. Ammoniac, ammonium nitrate, sulfur, and sulfuric acid are categorized in the fertilizer products and light and heavy polyethylene products, melamine crystal, PVC, and PET are the polymeric products that the country is considering exporting. Iran is among the world’s top producer of urea, ammoniac, methanol, and ethylene. Japan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, India, South Korea, Italy, Singapore, and Taiwan were the main target markets for exporting Iran’s petrochemical products in the previous year. These countries accounted for 86 and 80 percent of Iran’s export-bound petrochemicals in terms of weight and value respectively. Of about five million tons of petrochemical products Iran exported from March 21, 2006 to March 20, 2007, over 71 percent was transported to Asia, 21 percent to the Middle East, and about 7 percent to Europe. At present, Iran is producing 67 kinds of petrochemical products and the variety, due to downstream production process, will be greater. Iran’s Fifth Five-Year Socioeconomic Development Plan (2010-2015) has planned for increasing the annual petrochemical production from 55 million tons to 158 million tons. According to the initial estimate, domestic petrochemical output will witness a 33.7 million ton increase during the period. Based on the plan, 27 projects will become operational through investing 12.325 billion dollars by 2015. Petrochemical products accounted for the highest share of non-oil goods Iran exported in the past Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2006 to March 20, 2007). Totally 42.2 percent of the weight and 38.6 percent of the value of exported non-oil products belonged to petrochemicals. The country exported 14,236,800 tons of petrochemical products, valued at 6.11 billion dollars, during the yearlong period, showing 115.5 and 140.8 percent increases in terms of weight and worth respectively when compared to those in their preceding year. The country has produced 3.141 million tons of different types of petrochemical products from March 21 to May 21, 2007. Iran will turn out to be a large producer of aromatic, ethylene, and methanol products by the end of Iranian calendar year of 1393 (March 20, 2015), according to predictions. On July 2, Borzuyeh Petrochemical Complex, the world’s largest aromatic project, was inaugurated in the presence of Iranian President Mahmud Ahamdinejad and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez in Assaluyeh in southern Iran. The complex is to yield 1.28 million tons of main products including paraxylene, orthoxylene, and benzene as well as 3.178 million tons of byproducts such as light and heavy hydrocarbons, slice of pentane, raffinate, and liquefied gas per annum. The products are used as raw material for production of polyesters, synthetic fibers, paints, resins, disposable bottles, pharmaceutical compounds, and pesticides. The other two acetic acid complexes of Fanavaran and Ghadir would be also inaugurated by June 21, announced Iran’s National Petrochemical Company. Ahmadinejad agreed to change the name of “Borzuyeh” to “Nuri” Petrochemical Complex. The decision was made following the request of the family of Mohammad Nuri, former managing director of the complex, who died last year