Petchems Production Capacity to Reach 86m Tons by Yearend
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC DESK
TEHRAN – Deputy Oil Minister and CEO of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) says the production capacity of petrochemical sector will reach 86m tons by yearend and called for stopping launch of blind development in this sector.
Mr. Behzad Mohammad in an interview with ILNA highlighted the performance of petrochemical industry last year, saying that smartization of the petrochemical industry is the only way of remaining in the international market.
He said since last year, no new petrochemical complex has joined the industry and the production was almost the same as its preceding year. He further said 23m tons of almost 31m tons of marginal product were exported and remaining 8m tons were offered in the domestic market. He further said that 6m tons of 8m tons of products in the domestic market were offered in the bourse.
Mohammadi noted that the price of petrochemical products last year declined by 30 percent on average, noting that the total revenues of the petrochemical industry stood at $14.5b that $9.5b have been earned through exports and the remaining was earned in the domestic market.
He further said despite all woes and sanctions, the petrochemical industry earned 22 percent more forex than the ceiling which had been set by the NIMA and it means the industry injected $8.2b into the NIMA system, almost $600m more than its preceding year.
Mohammadi said that the outbreak of the virus has led to drastic slump in demand as well as decline in oil products consumption, adding that the fall in demand for crude oil led to 40 percent decrease in demand for petrochemical products.
He noted that 16 petrochemical projects are to come on stream by the yearend and by inauguration of those projects, the marginal product will soar from 31m to 37m tons, admitting that four projects out of 16 projects may be affected by the virus pandemic and they come on stream next year, reiterating that 12 projects will come on stream this year for sure. He said those projects worth over $12b.
He also warned about uncalculated and blind development of petrochemical projects, adding that the projects should be based on the demands and markets.
Mohammadi added that currently, the refineries and petrochemical companies produce some 985,000 tons of propylene, 175,000 tons shy of the domestic demand, noting that the propylene production will hit 1950,000 tons by 2025 which will be 700,000 tons shy the domestic need.
He predicted that the production capacity in this sector to hit 86m tons by the yearend.
