TEHRAN- The managing director of Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) said: “This year, we plan to reduce the gap between the installed capacity and the actual production of the petrochemical industry.”

Making the remarks in the inaugural ceremony of the 14th Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF) at the IRIB International Conference Center (IICC) in Tehran on Monday, Morteza Shahmirzaei underlined, “The petrochemical industry has now reached more than 80 percent self-sufficiency in goods and equipment, and today we are pioneer in many sectors.”

Emphasizing the necessity of moving towards avoiding the sales of raw materials and creating more added value, the official said that currently, more than 550 types of chemical and polymer products are produced in Iran's petrochemical industry, and by the end of this government, dependence on catalysts and chemicals will be stopped.

The NPC managing director further pointed out that the petrochemical industry has shined in bringing foreign currency to the country and emphasized: “This year, we plan to reduce the gap between the installed capacity and the actual production of the petrochemical industry so that the strategy of the Leader, which has been assigned to us, will be realized. With the actions that the management of the downstream industries of the National Petrochemical Company has on the agenda, the increase in prices and inflation will be prevented and the first step of the slogan of the year, which is to curb inflation, will be realized.”

The current Iranian calendar year 1402 (began on March 21) is named “Inflation Control, Production Growth” by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

As announced by the NPC managing director, 10 new petrochemical complexes are planned to be inaugurated and start production this year through them the country’s petrochemical production capacity, which is over 92 million tons at present, will surpass 95 million tons per annum.

Referring to the slogan of the current year, Shahmirzaei underlined that the NPC is one of the main addresses of this motto.

As previously stated by the official, currently, the petrochemical sector has the highest added value in the oil industry chain.

The petrochemical industry plays a crucial role in Iran’s non-oil economy, as petrochemical export is the second-largest source of revenue for the country after crude oil. Petrochemical exports already constitute nearly 33 percent of the country’s non-oil exports.

According to the NPC’s managing director, the petrochemical industry is a value and job-creating industry, which has no risk.

This industry is the driving force for other industries, Shahmirzaei has stressed.

MA