TEHRAN - Although Iran’s petrochemical complexes are being overhauled, there is an approximate upturn of 5 percent year-on-year at 23.6 million tons in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (started from March 21), the SHANA News Agency quoted from Alimohammad Basaqzadeh, production manager of Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC).

This output level has been brought about by only 76 percent of the nominal capacity of petrochemical complexes active in the country, up 4 percent from a cap of 72 percent in the previous Iranian calendar year.

Iran has scaled up its petrochemical output outlook to nine million tons by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (which will end on March 2017), according to Abbas She’ri Moqaddam, the managing director of the NPC.

This output target will be realized with the synergy from further projected 16 petrochemical plans once operationalized in the current and next Iranian calendar years, the official further noted.

In long-run, an output target of around 129 million tons per annum has been set, when the country’s sixth five-year development plan ends in 2021, according to Hamidreza Rostami, the planning and management director of the NPC.

Increasing amounts of foreign financing and also effective planning by the Oil Ministry will contribute to realization of the goal. This enhanced production is specially brought about by the pumping of $11.5 billion into the sector during the sixth development plan and also accomplishment of 122 progressive petrochemical projects.

Iran, so has been revealed by official statistics, has the capacity to produce 60 million tons of petrochemicals per annum. Now, with the positive prospect of post-sanction Iran, the statistics make more sense.

AK/