Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.30
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran has increased petrochemical exports after halting gasoline production by petrochemical units.
National Iranian Petrochemical Company official Ali-Mohammad Bassaqzadeh said production and export of petrochemicals have increased by 5 percent in the first half of the current year (began on March 21) after halting gasoline production by petrochemical units, Iran's Mehr news agency reported on September 30.
He added the petrochemical output has met the domestic market's needs and has been exported as well.
In February, National Iranian Petrochemical Company's Managing Director Abbas Sheri Moqaddam said Iran needs $31 billion to inaugurate 60 semi-finished petrochemical projects.
To date, just $5 billion is estimated to be spent in the projects, the Mehr News Agency quoted Sheri Moqaddam as saying.
Once the projects come on stream, they will increase the country's annual petrochemical output by 55 million metric tons, he said, adding that $74 billion is needed to expand the national petrochemical industry in the next 8-10 years.
The value of Iran's annual petrochemical output may double to $40 billion, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said in September 2013.
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