Ahmadinejad launches several petrochemical projects
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated several development projects in the Central Markazi province on June 9, Fars news agency reported.
The first project inaugurated by President Ahmadinejad was hydrogenation of four-carbon cuts in the petrochemical industry in Shazand Petrochemical Complex.
A semi-industrial project for the production of the technical knowhow for stone polyethylene as well as methanol and polyethylene catalysts was the second project inaugurated by the Iranian president.
Production of methanol and polyethylene catalysts is assessed as a major step towards the country's self-sufficiency in the petrochemical industry.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Abdolhosain Bayat said that Iran's share of the Middle East's petrochemical production will hit 41 percent at the end of the sixth five-year development plan in 2020.
"The production capacity of petrochemical products is planned to rise by 55 million tons per year in 2020 that will turn the country into one of main producers of petrochemicals in the region," Bayat said.
He added that building 33 petrochemical plants is another target of NPC during the five year term noting the company's ambitious is to be the top producer of petrochemical products in 2025 in the Middle East, 'that is practical with regard to existing know how and Iranian experts' resolve to achieve the target'.
Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi announced earlier this year that Iran is exporting petrochemical products to 40 countries around the world.
Addressing in inaugural ceremony of 10th Iran Petrochemical Forum early May, Rostam Qassemi said the neighboring countries' market with 400 million population was a very important destination for Iran's petrochemical sector.
Stating that Oil Ministry will guarantee benefits of investment in Iran's oil industry, the minister assured that investment in the petrochemical projects would be profitable.
"Iran's petrochemical industry as the most profitable sector in the country welcomes new investors," Qassemi said.