Iran-Sweden Petrochemical Plant to Become Operational Soon
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The construction of the second phase of Karoon Petrochemical Plant, a joint project by the Iranian and Swedish engineering companies, has been completed by 90% and will start operation by the end of the current Iranian year (ends on March 20, 2014).
The first phase of the joint project started in 2002 in Imam Khomeini Port's Special Economic Zone and was officially inaugurated in the winter of 2008.
The main product of the plant is Toluene diisocyanate (TDI), with the capacity of 40,000 tons per year. Karoon also produces Hydrochloric Acid and Sodium Hypochlorite in form of by-products. The company’s products and services are designed to provide domestic downstream industries with high quality raw material. Also, the company is entering the global competition in the field of Isocyanates market.
The second phase of the complex which is now in the final stages of construction will produce 40,000 tons per year of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) in addition to nitrobenzene and ethylene.
The value of Iran's annual petrochemical output may double to $40 billion, Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said last week. For the time being, the value of domestic petrochemical products per year is about $20 billion, he said, hoping that the figure would increase to $40 billion.
In June, the ex-managing director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company Abdolhossein Bayat said the intensification of US sanctions on Iran's petrochemical industry will not impede exports.
"Despite the sanctions, petrochemical products are being exported to over 65 countries. Iran started diversifying its petrochemical products and finding new markets two years ago," Bayat added.
In May, Bayat said that over the past eight years, the country's annual petrochemical output has increased by 38 million tons.
The output will surpass 75 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which ends on March 20, 2014, he noted.
Iran exported about $12 billion worth of petrochemical products in the previous Iranian calendar year (March 2012-March 2013), he added.
East Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa were the main destinations of Iran's petrochemical products.
In March, Bayat said the country's petrochemical output is projected to hit 100 million tons by 2015.