Baku, Azerbaijan, March 7
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
Iran's export of petrochemical products has grown by 26 percent since March 2015 year-on-year, says an Iranian petrochemical official.
Ali Mohammad Bosaqzadeh, an official with Iran's National Petrochemical Company, has said that more than 60 percent of the petrochemical products of the country are exported, SHANA news agency reported March 7.
Bosaqzadeh said the country produced 43 million tons of petrochemicals between March 2015 and February 2016.
He added that Iran's petrochemical output will grow by 6 percent by March 21 as compared to the same period last year.
Speaking about the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, aka nuclear deal), he said the removal of international sanctions against Tehran has created a good chance for increasing exports as the costs of money transaction have decreased.
Disconnection from the SWIFT as a result of the sanctions forced the Iranian banks and companies to employ new methods for money transfer, which were limited and time consuming, as well as increased the transaction costs.
The total output of Iran's petrochemical plants reached 38 million tons over the Iranian calendar month of Day (Dec. 22, 2015 - Jan. 21, 2016).
Iran's petrochemical output hit 44.4 million tons in the past Iranian fiscal year, 10 percent more year-on-year. 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.
Iranian petrochemical plants used 37 million cubic meters of gas as feedstock per day during the last fiscal year, which ended in March 2015.
The country's petrochemical output capacity currently stands at 60 million tons. The Islamic Republic hopes to bring this capacity to 120 million tons by 2020 and 180 million tons by 2025.
In a joint statement on Jan. 16, the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced the implementation of the JCPOA, aka nuclear deal, and the removal of economic sanctions on Iran.
According to the statement, the EU confirmed that the legal framework, providing for lifting of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions, is effective.