Iran petchem production to hit 46mn tons

National Iranian Petrochemical Organization (NIPO) says the country’s petrochemical production will reach 46 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year.
NIPO Managing Director Abdolhossein Bayat made the remarks on Tuesday, noting that about 17.6 million tons of petrochemical products have been produced in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), Taqrib News Agency(TNA) reported.

The official went on to say that the Islamic Republic exported about 7.3 million tons of different petrochemical products, worth $5.3 billion, during the said time span, adding that about 4.3 million tons of the country’s total production were sold in domestic market.

About 39.4 million tons of petrochemical products, worth $26.2 billion, have been exported since 2009, he added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Bayat said that the country’s petrochemical plants have stopped gasoline production, but the production of the material to increase the octane number of the gasoline is not halted.

When the US sanctions stopped many companies from selling gasoline to the Islamic Republic in 2010, some petrochemical plants of the country started producing gasoline to increase the Iran’s total production by 40 percent. The measure helped Iran to meet domestic demand and start exporting the product.

Earlier on Saturday, Bayat said that Iran and Venezuela have begun construction of a petrochemical complex in Assaluyeh in the southern province of Bushehr.