TEHRAN- Iran’s National Development Fund (NDF) has allocated over $1 billion to implementation of four petrochemical projects in the country, said Marzieh Shahdaie, the director for projects at Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC).

The official said Iran’s annual petrochemical output and exports will rise by 3.5 million tons and 2.6 million tons, respectively, once the four mentioned projects come on stream, the Shana News Agency reported on Saturday.

Another 18 petrochemical projects have been also introduced to be financed by the NDF, Shahdaie further announced.

Iran exported $8.205 billion of petrochemical products in the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-October 22). 

The country exported 14.109 million tons of petrochemicals in the seven-month period, according to the Iran Customs Administration. 

Iran’s petrochemical exports accounted for 34 percent and 25.12 percent of the value and weight of the country’s non-oil exports, respectively, in the first seven months of this year. 

On November 9, Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi, the deputy director of NPC, said the country’s petrochemical output is planned to be doubled by the Iranian calendar year of 1397 (which will start on March 2018). 

On October 17, Ali-Mohammad Basaqzadeh, the control manager of NPC, said Iran’s petrochemical sector is forecast to see an output surge to 47 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (which will end on March 19, 2016).  

Realization of the new capacity will be boosted by ethane production increases from phases 15 and 16 of South Pars gas field (which Iran shares with Qatar in the Persian Gulf), the official added. 

MA/