Mohammad Motaqi, NPC's director of downstream industry development, outlined these challenges at the third conference on the value chain of Iran’s petrochemical industry. He stated that 10 to 11 main entities, including the NPC, the oil ministry, the ministry of industry, mining and trade, producers, consumers, petrochemical holdings, private companies, the energy and commodity exchange, customs, the central bank and the food and drug organization, govern the ecosystem and set conditions for downstream industries.

Motaqi listed several key challenges:

Supply and Energy Instability: The first challenge is the fluctuation and supply of raw materials and their reduced production, which has various causes. Furthermore, energy imbalance impacts downstream industries, causing a shift in priority for raw material supply to other activities.

Prolonged Value Chain Projects: Some value chain projects that were expected to be completed in eight to nine years have now taken 12 years, creating numerous problems for the petrochemical industry's development.

Standardization and Outdated Labs: While the Standardization Organization is responsible for mandatory and incentive-based standards, there is insufficient follow-up. Furthermore, laboratories designed for this sector have not been updated for years.

Financial Pressure and Credit Sales: From the Iranian year 1402 to 1403 (2023-2024 in the Gregorian calendar), about 36% of commodity exchange transactions were credit-based. While efforts have helped liquidity and production resilience, factors like electricity and gas restrictions have pressured these industries.

Regulatory Oversight and Permits: The industry ministry must increase oversight of operational licenses based on upstream petrochemical development plans. According to 1402 (2023) statistics, about 10,000 operational permits have been issued in the polymer sector.

Plastic Pollution and Environmental Issues: Plastic and environmental pollution severely impact the petrochemical industry. Continuing with current products will lead to the loss of even semi-active markets within a few years.

Export Tariffs: Export tariffs, implemented to develop the value chain, have also created problems. In recent years, a 5% to 10% tax has been levied on petrochemical product exports, causing issues for downstream industries.