Petrochemical Plant in Southwest to Increase Polyethylene Output

EghtesadOnline: Construction of Dehdasht Petrochemical Plant in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province has made 25% progress and is expected to come on stream by 2022, managing director of the plant said.

News ID: ۷۸۶۰۷۱

21 February 2021

“Domestic companies and manufacturers will provide 65% of parts and equipment for this plant, including reactors, refrigeration units, process ?columns, and ?pressure vessels among others,” the Oil Ministry news agency Shana quoted Mohammadreza Sahebnasaq as saying.

“Contracts have been signed with local firms including Petropars, AzarAb Industries and Fateh Sanat Kimia,” Sahebnasaq said.

Stretching over 102 hectares in the southwestern province, the facility is to produce high-density polyethylene and is located near the West Ethylene Pipeline route.

WEP is 1,200 kilometers long and runs from the port city of Asalouyeh off the Persian Gulf in the south to the northwest. It will supply ethylene as feedstock to 12 petrochemical factories in the region.

The pipeline has an annual capacity of 3.5 million tons of ethylene, 2.5 million tons of which comes from the major South Pars Gas Field and the rest from Gachsaran field in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province.

When completed, Dehdasht Petrochemical Plant will provide polyethylene as feedstock for downstream industries.

With annual production set at 300,000 tons of high-density polyethylene, under the license and norms of Germany’s Basel Company, the plant will also export to international markets.

Polyethylene is the world's most versatile and widely produced polymer. High density polyethylene is used for producing plastic bottles, corrosion-resistant piping, geomembranes and plastic lumber.

According to a report by Technavio, a leading market research and advisory company, the global polyethylene market is expected to grow by over $40 billion in 2020-2023.

The polyethylene market is driven by global efforts to decrease plastic waste. Recycling plastics includes sorting plastic into different polymers, followed by the chipping and melting process. Soft plastics, including polyethylene bags and films, are also recycled.

The global market for recycled plastics is expected to grow at an annual rate of nearly 5% during 2019-2023. The growth in the non-food-contact packaging segment for recycled plastics is expected to be approximately 6% during the period.

Besides, recycling plastics helps conserve natural resources and energy. The process helps reduce the use of natural resources, such as water and petroleum, required to manufacture polyethylene bags and other products. This in turn helps manufacturers save production costs.

The global high-density polyethylene market was worth $106 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow annually by 8% and reach $148.5 billion by 2023.

Iran’s annual polymer production is 7.4 million tons and is projected to reach 12 million tons by 2022.