Hassan Abbaszadeh, who is also deputy oil minister, emphasized the importance of developing the polymer industry and its high value-added potential during the opening ceremony of the 19th IranPlast international exhibition on Monday.

"Today, the importance of polymers in daily life is quite evident," Abbaszadeh said. "Many polymer products have replaced steel in the automotive industry and wood in construction and household applications. In addition to their high value-added, these products have other features and are being optimized and updated daily."

He noted that while the average price of chemical products in Iran's petrochemical industry portfolio is $300 to $600 per ton, polymers are valued from $1,000 per ton and above. "Moving along the polymer value chain will create high added value for the country," he added.

Abbaszadeh stressed that the extensive changes within the polymer industry should not be overlooked. "Given the diversity of technologies used in this field, catalysts play a key role, and the use of modern catalysts has paved the way for the production of new polymers," he said. "The polymer industry is expanding at a significant pace."

Globally, he reported that production of polymer products exceeded 400 million tons in 2022 and is forecast to reach 1 billion tons by 2050. Packaging accounts for the largest share of polymer consumption at 36%, followed by the construction and textile industries, each with a 15% share of global consumption. "In other words, nearly 70% of polymer consumption is concentrated in these three areas," he said.

Regarding domestic capacity, Abbaszadeh stated that Iran's petrochemical industry capacity is about 100 million tons, of which nearly 30 million tons is invested in feedstock supply and is not considered a petrochemical product.