TEHRAN – Petrochemical production has risen seven percent in Iran during the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21, 2022), compared to the same period of time in the past year, according to an official in the National Petrochemical Company (NPC).

Bijan Chegeni, the NPC’s director for production control, put the eight-month petrochemical output at 47 million tons, and highlighted that the petrochemical plants operated at 71 percent of their optimum capacity during this period, IRNA reported.

In the mentioned eight months, 2.5 million tons of aromatics, 5.4 million tons of polymer materials, 5.6 million tons of fertilizers and related materials, 14.1 million tons of hydrocarbon materials, and 19.5 million tons of basic and chemical materials were produced by the country’s petrochemical sector, according to the official.

The petrochemical industry plays a crucial role in Iran’s non-oil economy, as petrochemical export is the second-largest source of revenue for the country after crude oil. Petrochemical exports already constitute nearly 33 percent of the country’s non-oil exports.

According to NPC Head Morteza Shahmirzaei, the company plans to increase its annual petrochemical production capacity to 200 million tons over the next 10 years.

In this regard, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji said that more than 100 petrochemical projects with a total investment of about $70 billion have been defined and will be implemented across the country.

Oji noted that the country will also be completely self-sufficient in producing the catalysts used in the petrochemical industry by the end of the current government administration's incumbency (August 2025).

He put the country’s current petrochemical production capacity at 90 to 95 million tons, saying that $10.5 billion worth of petrochemical products have been exported in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21).

According to Oji, over $12.5 billion was earned from the export of petrochemical products in the previous year.

EF/MA