Morteza Shahmirzaei made these comments during the 18th International Exhibition of Plastic, Rubber, Machinery, and Equipment, noting that five significant petrochemical projects have become operational since the start of the year.

Source: Tehran Times

He further expressed that Iran’s petrochemical sector aims to achieve self-sufficiency in the necessary items and equipment within the next five years.

As per the official, the current capacity of Iran’s petrochemical industry, which is at 96 million tons, is expected to exceed 100 million tons as these projects come online.

In August, Shahmirzaei estimated that the country’s petrochemical output would reach 80 million tons in the current Iranian calendar year.

The implementation of petrochemical projects in Makran region has accelerated and it is hoped that one of them will come online this year.

Highlighting one of the main goals of the Oil Ministry this year, he emphasized the consistent supply of feed to petrochemical complexes, stating that the country's petrochemical exports in the previous Iranian calendar year (which ended on March 19) amounted to 30 million tons.

Earlier in May, Ahmad Mahdavi Abhari, the director general of the Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation (APIC), mentioned that Iran’s petrochemical output has risen by 15 million tons in the last two years.

Abhari reported the current output at 82 million tons, indicating that it was at 67 million tons before the late President Raisi took office in August 2021.

He also highlighted that the Iranian petrochemical industry has generated approximately 143,000 direct jobs during this period.

The growth rate of Iran’s petrochemical industry stands at 40.6 percent, an increase from 27.5 percent during the country’s third five-year development plan.

According to him, Iran's petrochemical sector accounts for 28 percent of the region's petrochemical capacity and 2.7 percent of global capacity.

The petrochemical industry is vital to Iran’s non-oil economy, serving as the second-largest revenue source after crude oil. Petrochemical exports make up nearly 33 percent of the nation's non-oil exports.

Shahmirzaei confirmed that the company intends to boost its annual petrochemical production capacity to 200 million tons within the next decade.