TEHRAN - After the implementation of Iran nuclear deal, the country’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has received high willingness from European companies for cooperation with Iran in the petrochemical sector both in financing and licensing, Farnaz Alavi, the NPC director for planning and development, announced in a press conference on Saturday.

It also comes true about Asian companies, especially the petrochemical giants in Southeast Asia, the official added.

Alavi further referred to the establishment of Investment Management Department in the NPC in its new round of activities and said investment attraction is being seriously followed up by this department in a way that promotion of attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI) and supporting the private sector in this due is a top agenda of NPS’s programs.

‘Highest value of NPC’s products in region an agenda’

Elsewhere in her remarks, Alavi mentioned ranking first in the region in terms of producing the highest value of petrochemical products a top priority in the NPC’s outlook for 2025.

Completing the chain of value and producing high value added products will be followed up in this due, she noted.

The official also mentioned boosting efficiency of current petrochemical complexes, completing unfinished projects and launching new plans, laying the ground for the balanced development of downstream petrochemical industries in order to complete the chain of value, developing research and knowledge-based activities, and becoming the most efficient petrochemical organization in West Asia in terms of development as some other objectives of the NPC in its outlook.

‘Noticeable growth anticipated for Iran’s polymer products’

Alavi further highlighted that some noticeable growth is anticipated for Iran’s polymer products in the global markets in the coming years.

The official also said the country’s petrochemical output, which stood at 46.4 million tons in the past Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 19, 2016), is anticipated to reach 50-51 million tons by the end of current calendar year (March 20, 2017).

She put the output at 28.8 million tons from the beginning of this year until the end of the seventh calendar month of Mehr (October 21).

Alavi said Iran’s annual petrochemical exports, which stood at 18.8 million tons in the past calendar year and at 11.6 million tons during the first seven months of this year, is forecast to be 20 million tons by the yearend.

She, meanwhile, noted that the worth of petrochemical exports, which was $9.6 billion in the preceding year and $4.8 billion by the end of Mehr, is anticipated to reach $9 billion by the yearend.

Elsewhere in her remarks, the NPC director expounded upon the activities of the country’s petrochemical complexes in the past Iranian year and announced that the complexes which receive gas as their feedstock accounted for 85.5 percent of the net profit of the national petrochemical sector and those that receive liquid feedstock account for the rest of net profit.

In early November, NPC Managing Director Marziyeh Shahdaie announced that Iran plans to triple its installed capacity of petrochemicals in the next ten years.

She also put the current nominal petrochemical output of the country at 64 million tons and the operating output at 46 million tons.

MA/MG