Tehran, Iran, January 18
By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:
Over 15 million tons of petrochemicals was loaded/unloaded at ports Asaluyeh and Mahshahr during the past nine months, CEO of Iran's Petrochemical Terminals and Tankers Mohammad Sharif Shahriari said.
He explained that in the meantime 881 ships were loaded/unloaded, Shana news agency reported January 18.
According to Shahriari, last year the same period the loaded/unloaded volume had stood at 13.5 million tons.
In the past nine months, the company's container operations hit 134 thousand TEUs, showing 121 thousand TEUs growth compared to the same period last year.
Petrochemicals share 34.9 percent in the country's total non-oil exports during 8 months of the fiscal year (which started March 21), standing at 18.787 million tons in volume (+55%), and $10.33 billion in value (+9%), according to the latest data of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
The country's actual production capacity is around 60 million tons, but the shortage of natural gas as feedstock, old production units, and the problem of sanctions, which has dropped exports, have caused petrochemical complexes to work at lower capacities.