Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr.14 /Trend G.Mehdi/
Iran's petrochemical exports are predicted to hit 17 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 21, the Mehr News Agency quoted National Iranian Petrochemical Company's official Ramezan Oladi as saying.
Last year, about 41 million tons of petrochemicals were produced, he said, adding that more than 30 percent of the products were exported.
Domestic petrochemical plants also produced about 1.8 billion liters of gasoline, he noted.
During the last calendar year, which ended on March 20, Iran exported petrochemical products at the cost of about $12 billion, , Shana News Agency reported with reference to Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Abdolhossein Bayat.
The volume of exported products amounted to about 16 million tons, he noted.
Last year, petrochemical products were exported to around 60 countries of the world, he said.
Iran's nominal petrochemical production capacity was increased by about 13.2 percent during the previous calendar year, according to Shana.
The Far East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa were the main destinations of the Iranian products.
Earlier in March, Bayat said the country's petrochemical output is planned to hit 100 million tons by 2015.
Bayat said Iran is in negotiations with some countries for exporting its new petrochemical products.
In February, Bayat announced Iran's plans to establish three new petrochemical hubs in the nearest future, saying the projects will turn Iran into the biggest petrochemical producer in the Middle East, Press TV reported.
Iran has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical products during the recent few years, and the NPC has become the second largest producer and exporter of petrochemicalsin the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.