Delivering his opening speech at the 14th Iran Petrochemical Forum (IPF), Morteza Shahmirzaei added, “We intend to follow the Leader’s guidelines by boosting production and curbing prices and inflation, the first part of slogan of the year [Inflation Control, Production Growth].”

In 1978, Iran’s annual petrochemical output stood at just 1.5 million tons, he recalled, adding the country’s production capacity has now reached 93 million tons despite sanctions and international restrictions.  

The NPC head vowed that domestic production capacity will be more than double within 10-12 years, when nearly 110 projects become operational.

He put great emphasis on avoiding selling raw materials and added, “Iran is currently producing more than 550 types of chemicals and polymers and will be self-sufficient in producing catalysts and chemical materials by the end of incumbent administration’s term.”

According to Shahmirzaei, Iran has reached over 80 percent self-sufficiency for products and equipment and is a pioneer in many fields.

“We have planned to become fully self-sufficient in petrochemical industry,” pledged the NPC CEO.

He also said domestic petrochemical industry has shone in fetching the country hard currency.

Forum topics

Focusing on value chain and new opportunities, the two-day forum will revolve around eight topics, said Shahmirzaei.

The forum’s subjects are “Feedstock, products and supply chain”; “Solutions and advanced optimization technologies”; “Integration and coordination between petrochemical and refining complexes”; “Production process and market”; “Methanol market and its roles”; “Global energy crisis and future of petrochemical industry”; “Investment and financial supply opportunities”; and “Energy optimization and production without pollution”, he mentioned.

The NPC chief also said workshops will be held to discuss “compounding and value chain”, “applied project models in petrochemical industry”, “petrochemical projects in Iran: challenges and opportunities”, and “carbon management strategy for petrochemical industry”.

The participants in the 14th edition of IPF, the NPC head continued, will also exchange views on “petrochemical hubs and parks”, “development projects and investment in these projects” and “exploiting modern technologies”.

Experts and industrialists from more than 15 countries have participated in the forum.