Tehran, Iran, August 29
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
The petrochemical company of Kaveh as the world’s largest producer of methanol will come on stream before August 2017, according to Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for Petrochemicals Marzieh Shahdaei.
It is estimated that Iran will turn into the world’s petrochemical hub, she told reporters, IRNA news agency reported August 29.
Kaveh Petrochemical Complex will have a capacity to produce 2.5 million tons of methanol per annum.
The output capacity of petrochemical units that were installed in Iran since Hassan Rouhani became president in 2013 have reached 60 million tons. The number will reach 100 million tons in five years and 140 million tons in 10 years.
“In the past three years, our petrochemical output grew by 15.5 percent. Plus, last year (March 2015- 2016) alone saw a growth of seven percent,” Shahdaei stated.
“Petrochemical exports also grew by 46 percent in the past three years. The number stood at 12 percent last year.”
Last Iranian fiscal year five petrochemical units came on stream from a list that includes Mahshahr Takhte Jamshid, Luristan Petrochemical, Urmia Sufuric Acid, Kavian Phase 2, Marvdasht Urea and Amonia, Morvarid Ethylene Glycol, and Mahabad Petrochemical, with a total investment of €2.2 billion, adding four million tons to Iran’s petrochemical output.
Iran currently produces $20 billion worth of petrochemicals per year, meanwhile the figure will be doubled by 2021.
Petrochemical plants in Iran had to work below the actual production capacity due to the shortage of natural gas as feedstock, old production units and the sanctions, which has caused a decline in exports.