TEHRAN – Iran’s 15th International Exhibition of Plastic, Rubber, Machinery, and Equipment (IRAN PLAST) was opened at the Tehran Permanent International Fairground on Monday, Shana reported.

The opening ceremony was attended by senior officials including Oil Minister Javad Oji, Head of National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Morteza Shah-Mirzaei, as well as some parliament members, and ambassadors of various countries in Tehran.

As reported, more than 430 domestic and foreign companies from various countries including China, Taiwan, and Italy are participating in this four-day exhibition.

The exhibition which is held in full compliance with health and safety protocols covers four major areas including raw materials, machinery and equipment, final and semi-finished products as well as services.

Some 17 specialized meetings and workshops in various fields including downstream petrochemical and polymer industries are planned to be held on the sidelines of this exhibition, while an online exhibition is also being held concurrently with the physical event and will continue for a month.

Over 300 foreign businessmen and company representatives from 15 different countries are also scheduled to visit the international event.

Petchem industry a major source of revenue for Iran

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Oji underlined the significant role of the petrochemical industry in the country’s economy and said: “In difficult conditions of the country [the sanctions], petrochemical complexes were bringing in as much as revenue as the crude oil and gas condensate sales so that in the first 10 months of [the current fiscal] year (March 21, 2021-January 20, 2022), $10 billion in foreign currency revenues was injected [by petrochemical complexes] into the Nima system.”

“The petrochemical industry is less vulnerable to sanctions and has played an important role in meeting the country's foreign exchange needs,” the minister stressed.

He noted that there is no field more profitable than the petrochemical industry, saying: "In the 13th government, we plan to make a huge change in the country’s petrochemical industry and increase the production capacity of petrochemical products to 140 million tons by [the Iranian calendar year] 1404 (starts in March 2025)."

Petchem production capacity to reach 200m tons by 2032

Further in the mentioned ceremony, NPC Head Morteza Shah-Mirzaei also mentioned some of the Oil Ministry’s plans for the development of the petrochemical industry in the future and said the country’s petrochemical production capacity is planned to be increased to 200 million tons by the Iranian calendar year 1411 (begins in March 2032).

He put the current capacity of the country’s petrochemical production at 90 million tons.

Shah-Mirzaei further stressed the need for the diversification of the country’s petrochemical products basket in the future and noted that petrochemical complexes should move towards producing products with more added value.

EF/MA