TEHRAN – Managing Director of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) said on Sunday that a petrochemical plant with a capacity for producing 120,000 tons of propylene is going to be constructed in the northern Amir-Abad Port, IRNA reported.

Behzad Mohammadi made the remarks during a visit to the location in which the complex is going to be constructed.

Underlining the significance of propylene production for the country’s petrochemical industry, Mohammadi said: “Increasing the production of propylene is very important for us in petrochemical industry; currently the production of propylene in the country stands at over 900,000 tons per year and we are trying to increase this amount to three million tons per year.”

“With a production capacity of 120,000 tons per year, this petrochemical complex that is going to be established in Amirabad Port is aimed at increasing the country’s propylene production capacity,” he stressed.

According to the official, the preliminary researches for determining the location of the complex have been carried out and this project will be constructed to help the development of downstream industries.

The proposal for the establishment of a petrochemical complex in Amir-Abad Port was presented to the Oil Ministry in the Iranian calendar year of 1396 (ended on March 20, 2018) and it was decided that the plant would be constructed in Miankaleh wetlands provided that the Department of Environment agrees.

Iran has been facing a shortage of propylene for years.

Currently, with the production of about 900,000 tons of propylene by Iranian refineries and petrochemical plants, there is a shortage of 175,000 tons of this product in the country, Shana has reported.

In the calendar year of 1404, the amount of propylene production will reach 1.95 million tons, while Iran will be facing an annual shortage of about 700,000 tons of the item.

To tackle this projected shortage, the first step is to launch projects with methanol and propylene output.

For the production of at least 3.5 million tons of propylene in Iran, two propylene lines have been considered; First, the southern line to the center, from Assaluyeh to Marvdasht, which will be developed by the National Petrochemical Company.

The methanol surplus in Assaluyeh will be used to produce propylene to be injected into the 430-km pipeline to Marvdasht to be stored in a storage hub.

Secondly, the Alborz pipeline, where propylene will be produced from natural gas in Amirabad and transferred from Amirabad-Neka to Damghan, to be distributed later in the provinces of North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, South Khorasan, Semnan, and surrounding areas.

EF/MA