TEHRAN - The 12th Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF) will open the gateways for foreign companies to invest in the country’s petrochemical sector, said Mohammad-Hassan Peyvandi, the deputy managing director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company.

The official made the statement in a press conference on Saturday to brief the media on the IPF which is scheduled to be held in Tehran from December 13 to 14.

465 companies to attend IPF

The IPF will be participated by 368 Iranian and 97 foreign companies from 25 countries, Peyvandi announced.

He said companies from Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, England, the United Arab Emirates, and also the U.S. have already registered to take part in the event.

The forum will be held following an international conference held in Tehran on November 28-29 in which Iran introduced its long-awaited new model of oil contracts, known as the Integrated Petroleum Contract.

Iran introduced 70 oil and gas projects, valued at $30 billion, to foreign investors at the two-day conference. 

The country is now planning to attract foreign investment in its oil, gas and petrochemical projects in anticipation of the lifting of sanctions envisioned as part of the historic nuclear deal Iran struck with world powers in Vienna on July 14.

Main field of interest for foreign companies

Peyvandi went on to say that the petrochemical sector was the major field of interest for foreign delegations which have recently announced readiness to invest in the Iranian energy projects, because they know that Iran’s petrochemical industry enjoys high potential for development.

He conditioned participation of foreign companies in Iran’s petrochemical projects on providing finance and transferring technology.

Asia, main export destination

Asian countries will be the major export destinations for Iran’s petrochemical products once the sanctions are lifted against the country, the official told the Tehran Times.

However Iran plans to boost its petrochemical exports to European countries in the post-sanctions era, he added.

Annual petrochemical output to reach 46m tons

Peyvandi said Iran’s annual petrochemical output is planned to reach 46 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 19, 2016). He put the country’s petrochemical production at 44 million tons in the previous calendar year.

Petrochemical export is projected to rise to 35 million tons this year from 32 million tons in the past year, the official added.

Iran plans to raise its petrochemical production to around 129 million tons by 2021, which marks the end of the country’s sixth five-year development plan.
 
Officials say the country has the capacity to produce 60 million tons of petrochemicals per annum.