Iran ready to launch world's largest methanol plant
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
Iran's petrochemical sector is one of the fastest growing industrial sectors in the country.
The world's largest methanol plant located in the southern Iranian province of Bushehr is ready for launch. The plant is capable of producing 7,000 tons of methanol per day.
The high added value of production at petrochemical plants and Iran's access to low-cost raw materials have helped the Iranian petrochemical industry to experience high growth in recent years. By March 2018, the country managed to export petrochemical products worth about $12 billion per year.
Currently, there are 54 petrochemical plants in Iran, which supply 53.6 million tons of petrochemical products. About 30.7 million tons of products are ready for sale, and the rest is consumed by the plants.
In addition, as many as 34 petrochemical projects have achieved more than 20 percent progress. Once these projects are completed, Iran's petrochemical production will grow to 75 million tons by March 2022. If new petrochemical projects are no longer launched, existing projects’ production will exceed 100 million tons by March 2026.
Among the petrochemical projects ready for launch, the Kaveh Methanol petrochemical plant is the most outstanding. The private sector is engaged in its construction, which is capable of producing 7,000 tons of methanol per day - the largest amount in the world.
Kaveh Methanol plant is located on a large plot of 220 hectares, near the town of Dayer in the Bushehr province. Various divisions of the plant began work in 2017, and now the whole plant is ready for operation.
Iran exports its petrochemical products to dozens of countries in different parts of the world. As many as 13 percent of products are exported to the Indian subcontinent, 23 percent to the Southeast Asia countries, 22 percent to China, 18 percent to the countries of the Far East, 5 percent to Europe and 19 percent to the Middle East.
An important feature of Iran’s petrochemical industry is the country's favorable geographical location and good access to Asian and European markets, as well as free seas, which makes it easier and cheaper to export and transport.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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