According to the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), the products were exported by the Petrochemical Reserves and Terminals Company via the specialized port.

Zagros, Nouri, and Pars petrochemical complexes ranked first to third, exporting of 802, 624, and 473 thousand tons respectively.

The NPC added the products were shipped to the Asian and European states by 179 vessels.

Zagros, Nouri, Ghadir, and Pars petrochemical complexes have become operational in the first phase of Assalouyeh.

Iran will make a 12 billion dollar investment to set up the second phase of Assalouyeh within five years.

According to the NPC, the second phase comprises 22 petrochemical processing units and one subsidiary concentrated services unit.

The NPC plans manager said the second phase of Assalouyeh would help the country take the second step toward the development of petrochemical industry.

Jalil Ebrahimpour added, “Out of 22 petrochemical units, the three plants of Kavian, Morvarid, and Mehr are under construction and will be expected to come on stream in mid-2008.”

He said the NPC had signed a contract with Sazeh Pardaz Consulting Company to provide utilities needed by the second phase units.

Shifting to the participation of the private sector in the projects of the second phase, the official said a contract on the construction of water, electricity, and steam power plants had been also inked, adding Iran Power Plant Projects Management (MAPNA) would implement 80 percent of related operations and the NPC would be in charge of the remaining 20 percent.

Assalouyeh is a town in Bushehr Province, southern Iran. Located on the shore of the Persian Gulf some 270 km southwest of the provincial capital of Bushehr, it is best known as the site for the land based facilities of the huge PSEEZ project. The town itself is of minor significance, although it is common practice to refer to PSEEZ (established 1998) and Assalouyeh town collectively as Assalouyeh.

Assalouyeh was chosen as the site of the PSEEZ facilities as it is the closest land point to possibly the largest natural gas field in the world, the South Pars gas field. In addition, an existing airport and direct access to international waters via a deep water port were already present.

The PSEEZ has been allocated 100 square kilometers of land at Assalouyeh for the various complexes and facilities. The site is a collection of different plants and refineries, known as phases, and is administered by the PSEEZ agency onsite.

A total of 27 phases are envisaged (12 gas, 15 petrochemical), plus a mix of light and heavy industries, and associated support facilities such as factories and warehouses. The scale of the project is huge. So far only 18 phases are have either been opened for tender, are under construction or completed.

According to Iran’s Oil Ministry, sales of products from the PSEEZ could be as much as $11 billion dollars per year, over 30 years.