TEHRAN – Iran’s petrochemical production in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-November 21) has risen eight percent compared to the same period of time in the past year, according to the secretary-general of Iran's Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation (APIC)

Ahmad Mahdavi Abhari said the offering of petrochemical products at Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) has also increased by 660,000 tons in the mentioned eight months compared to the previous year’s same period.

According to the official, petrochemical products account for 30 percent of the country’s total non-oil exports.

Pointing to the prominent role of the petrochemical industry in the national economy and that this industry can distant Iran’s economy from oil monopoly, the official said: “last year Iran exported 16 billion dollars of petrochemical products, of which 80 percent or 14 billion dollars, was supplied to Nima and the rest has been spent on buying equipment, goods and catalysts and implementing petrochemical projects.”

The Islamic Republic’s petrochemical production increased by seven percent in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20), reaching 69.6 million tons.

Over 27.6 million tons of petrochemical products were exported in the past year, registering a four percent growth compared to the preceding year, in terms of weight.

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 NPC Head Morteza Shahmirzaei, the company plans to increase its annual petrochemical production capacity to 200 million tons over the next 10 years.

In this regard, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji said that more than 100 petrochemical projects with a total investment of about $70 billion have been defined and will be implemented across the country.

Oji noted that the country will also be completely self-sufficient in producing the catalysts used in the petrochemical industry by the end of the current government administration's incumbency (August 2025).

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