TEHRAN (Iran News) –Iran reported major increases in exports of certain petrochemicals and oil products in the calendar year that started in late March 2022.
An industry source said that petrochemicals shipment had accounted for $12 billion or 27% of Iran’s total exports in the 10 months to late January.
Hamid Hosseini, a senior member of Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union (OPEX), said oil products exports from Iran had reached $13 billion between March 2022 and January this year.
Hosseini said that Iran had earned some $4.9 billion from exports of 6.6 million metric tons (mt) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the nine months to late December, an increase of 120% compared to the same previous period.
He said exports of methanol from Iran had reached $1.8 billion for 6.8 million mt of shipments in the nine months to late December.
The businessman added that Iran had exported 1.6 million mt of urea worth $975 million in the nine calendar months to the end of 2022, adding that exports of polymers also increased by 77% over the same period.
A y report by the official IRNA news agency said that Iran had earned some $1 billion from exports of bitumen over the 10 months to late January.
The figures come amid Iran’s continued efforts to increase its exports of petroleum products and petrochemicals as a solution to avoid foreign sanctions affecting its direct crude oil exports.
Experts say the policy has strengthened Iran’s non-oil exports and led to the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs in the country.
Reacting to a report that the U.S. is working to zero Iraq’s dependence on Iran’s gas and electricity, Hosseini said that it is impossible because Iraq’s condition is in a way that they cannot cut their dependence on Iran’s gas and electricity and pointed to the reasons for this dependence.
He added that with development of industries and consumption in Iraq, this country will continue to buy Iran’s gas and electricity because Iraq is unable to import all of its needs via its ports, Saudi Aabia, Kuwait or Turkey and it needs at least to import 20m to 25m tons of its needs either transit from Iran or buying Iranian goods and energy.