Azerbaijan, Baku, March 11/ Trend M. Moezzi
As Iran works to shift the focus of its petrochemical market from Europe to Asia, it is facing competition from Saudi Arabia, Pana news reports.
The Middle East's second biggest petrochemical producer, after Saudi Arabia, Iran sells 29.4 percent of its petrochemicals to the Middle Eastern countries, 26 percent to China, 12.9 percent to the Far East, 12.8 percent to India, 9.2 percent to Southeast Asia and the rest to Europe.
It plans to construct two storage facilities in Vietnam and China and has set up mechanized storage for its polymer products with sales offices in Shanghai and Tianjin and another office scheduled to open in Guangxi.
Last year, Iran was China's top supplier of methanol and its second polyethylene provider.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia's Sabic Company intends to build a new petrochemical storage facility in China. The company has announced it will focus on the Asian giant to increase exports.
Saudi Arabia has the capacity to produce 60 million tons of petrochemicals annually. It is projected that it will grow to 130 million tons in five years.
Iran's annual production capacity is 55 million tons and may reach 100 million tons in five years if it planned projects are executed.