TEHRAN – President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated five petrochemical projects with a total investment of €916 million in three provinces through a video conference on Thursday, IRNA reported.

The mentioned projects went operational in Ilam, Hamedan, and West Azarbaijan in the 38th series of inauguration ceremonies in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20).

With the said projects going operational, over 900,000 tons have been added to the country’s annual petrochemical production capacity.

The projects include the second development phase of Ilam Petrochemical complex, Hegmataneh Petrochemical complex in Hamedan, and the Potassium sulfate unit of Urmia petrochemical company (UPC) in West Azarbaijan.

The second phase of Ilam Petrochemical Complex includes olefins and the sweetening unit. With the launch of the olefin unit, 750,000 tons of products including ethylene, propylene, pyrolysis gasoline, and liquid fuel are produced per year.

Inaugurated in the year of the surge in production, this project was implemented completely by relying on domestic knowledge and technology.

With an investment of $29 million, plus 2.21 trillion rials (about $52.6 million), Hegmataneh Petrochemical complex will produce medical grade PVC and medical-grade granules, adding a total of 45,000 tons to the country's petrochemical production capacity.

The Potassium Sulfate unit of Urmia Petrochemical Company, which was fully developed by Iranian experts in less than 24 months is aimed at completing the value chain and developing downstream industries.

Since the beginning of the current calendar year, which has been named the year of “surge in production” by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Seyed Ali Khamenei, the government has urged various bodies and ministries to take the necessary measures for the realization of the year’s motto.

In this regard, since the beginning of the year, every week several major projects have gone operational in various sectors.

EF/MA