TEHRAN – The head of Iran’s National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has said that completing the value chain and developing complementary industries is going to ensure a balanced and sustained development of the country’s petrochemical industry.

“The development of the industry in all sectors must be pursued seriously, and for this purpose, all the people active in the petrochemical industry must pay attention to the development of complementary industries according to the existing capacities in the country,” Hassan Abbaszadeh said in a meeting with NPC officials on Monday.

Stating that the provincial development of complementary industries, in addition to job creation, can create more added value, he said: "The development of downstream industries should be pursued and implemented seriously, and the National Petrochemical Company is ready for any cooperation in this regard."

Emphasizing the existence of suitable capacities for investment in complementary industries, Abbaszadeh said: “The portfolio of petrochemical products can be diversified with the cooperation of holdings and petrochemical companies.

Based on Iran’s seventh National Development Plan (2022-2027), the country’s petrochemical production capacity is planned to increase by eight percent to reach 130 million tons.

The Islamic Republic is also going to invest over $40 billion in the petrochemical industry for the eighth National Development plan to further expand the mentioned sector and complete its value chain.

Currently, Iran accounts for 2.8 percent of the world's petrochemical capacity and about 28 percent of the capacity of this industry in the region, and with the plans made, the capacity of the petrochemical industry will increase significantly in the horizon of the seventh development plan.

According to the latest data released by the NPC, the capacity of Iran’s petrochemical production will reach 103 million tons by the end of the current Iranian year (late March 2025).

Also, considering that about 60 petrochemical projects are planned to go operational during the seventh National Development Plan, 35 million tons will be added to the country’s petrochemical capacity by 2027.

EF/MA