Azerbaijan, Baku, March 13 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Iran's petrochemical plants may be forced to close down, because there is not enough of export, Deputy Oil Minister Abdolhossein Bayat said, ISNA reported.
"We've requested from the government to export petrochemical products in the amount of 520,000 tons, however we were only granted permission for 300,000 tons, and that is not enough to cover the costs," Bayat explained.
"We will try to export the remaining petrochemicals until the end of the year," Bayat added.
Iran exported $8.495 billion worth of petrochemicals in the first 11 months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012.
The country's petrochemical output capacity currently stands at 57 million tons.
In February 2013, Bayat told IRNA news agency that Iran's total petrochemical production capacity will reach 60 million tons by the end of the current calendar year (March 20).
Country's Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi in turn had said that Iran plans to build 70 new petrochemical production units.
"Once all the units come on stream the nation's installed petrochemical production capacity would reach 100 million tons. Petrochemical sector is one of the most profitable industries of Iran and we can guarantee a 30-percent interest to the investors," Qasemi said.