Reza Qassemi Shahri, who serves as the CEO of Shahid Tondgooyan Petrochemical Company (STPC), said that PET output for export had reached a historic record of 110,000 tons per month over October and December this year, reported Press TV.

Qassemi said that new production capacity had allowed the STPC to resume exports of bottling and textile PET in November, a move he described as a major achievement as it could lead to more foreign currency revenues for Iran at a time the country’s oil industry is under the American sanctions.

He also said that the STPC, the sole PET producer in Iran, is planning to start production for 20 new variants of the plastic, including a special fiber which is widely used in the tire industry and is currently imported into Iran.

The official said plans were also in place to create an extra 4,800 tons of new capacity for bottles and textile PET in the STPC through a financing scheme that will involve foreign investors.

Iran’s petrochemical sector has expanded rapidly over the past years, mainly as a result of sanctions imposed on the country’s direct sale of oil.

The increased petchem exports have helped the government to compensate for the losses suffered in a crude sale as sanctions normally fail to identify the source of the Iranian refined products once they arrive in foreign markets.