TEHRAN – Iranian manufacturers exported 590,000 tons of plastic products worth over $1.4 billion, mostly to the neighboring countries, during the past Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2018-March 20, 2019), IRNA reported on Tuesday, quoting an industry official.

Speaking in a national conference on innovation in the plastic industry, the Deputy Industry, Mining and Trade Minister for Industry Affairs Mehdi Sadeqi Niaraki stressed the need for increasing investment in the plastic industry and promoting the use of innovative ways and modern technologies for producing new products with higher quality.

He also emphasized the need for completing the petrochemical products value chain adding that the petrochemical industry has strong links with other industries such as rubber and plastic, pharmaceuticals and textiles, furniture, automotive, cosmetics, clothing, food and beverage, packaging, as well as construction and energy sectors.
“Completing the value chain of petrochemical products and preventing crude selling can lead to greater added value in other sectors like plastic and rubber products,” he said.

According to the official, currently, more than $50 million tons of petrochemical products are produced annually inside the country, a big chunk of which (about $12 billion) is being exported in the form of basic raw products.

“If these raw materials are converted into products with higher value-added in the downstream sector, the value of exports from the country’s petrochemical industry would be multiplied,” Niaraki stressed.

EF/MA