2 Petrochemical Projects in Bushehr Near Completion
EghtesadOnline: Two petrochemical companies in southern Bushehr Province, Kaveh Methanol Complex and the first phase of Bushehr Petrochemical Complex, will be inaugurated by the end of the current fiscal in March, director for projects at the National Petrochemical Company said Sunday.
Ali Mohammad Bosaqzadeh said Kaveh Complex has already started pilot production and hoped it would come on stream by the yearend, ILNA reported.
Located near the port city of Bandar Dayyer in the Persian Gulf, 120 kilometers west of Assalouyeh, “the plant is the largest of its kind in Iran and one of the biggest in the world with a daily methanol output capacity of 7,000 tons, or 3.2 million tons per annum,” he said.
The private Kaveh Glass Industry Group, which accounts for 60% of Iran’s glass production, is the main shareholder of the methanol company, which will produce methanol, ammonia, urea and polymers, Financial Tribune reported.
Bushehr Petrochemical Company is located in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone and its first phase is expected to start production by March, said Bosaqzadeh.
“When fully operational it will produce ethane, ethylene, methanol, sulfur and acetic acid among other petrochemicals”.
Its total production capacity will be 4 million tons per annum, including 1.65 million tons of methanol, 1 million tons of olefins, 550,000 tons of ethylene glycol, 300,000 tons of light and heavy polymers and 300,000 tons of acetic acid.
Feedstock of the plant is sour gas, which will be supplied from the giant south Pars gas field and amounting to 9 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.
Iran’s installed capacity of petrochemical output is 64 million tons per year. However, since not all the plants operate at full capacity, due to periodic overhauls and feed shortage, the actual annual output hovers around 57 million tons.
According to NPC reports, policies to complete the petrochemical value-added chain have helped increase output capacity from 40.6 million tons in 2013 to 57 million in 2018.
Nine more petrochemical projects are underway in the southern regions, which will be completed in two years.
Last year (March 2017-18), petrochemical export revenue reached $12 billion while petrochemicals sold in the domestic market generated $5 billion.
Petrochemical is Iran's most important industry after oil and gas. The NPC has said it hopes to lift annual output to more than 120 million tons by 2022.