In January 2016, the United Nations and the European Union abolished numerous sanctions against Iran: A country with more than 75 million consumers is now returning to the global market; business relations are normalizing step by step. All industries can profit thereof, especially the petrochemical industry due to the large oil and natural gas deposits of Iran.

Considerable Increases in Capacity

The petrochemical industry in Iran was extended considerably in the past years. In 2015, total capacity of methanol, ethylene, propylene, butadiene / butylene, aromates and the respective derivates amounted to 31 million tonnes. Thereof, the production plants of ethylene accounted for more than 23%. Ethylene derivates, such as ethylene dichloride (EDC) and ethylene glycol, accounted for almost 17% of capacity. Iranian factories are also able to produce, for example, 4.8 million tonnes of the three most important types of polyethylene plastics, namely LDPE, LLDPE, and HDPE. Additional petrochemical plants are already under construction. Until 2023, at least 36 million tonnes of capacity are supposed to be added.

Growing Export to Europe

Although Iran is one of the largest domestic markets for petrochemical products in the Middle East, the focus of many Iranian companies is on export. In 2015, around 6.8 million tonnes of petrochemical products were exported. Ceresana expects this volume to almost double until 2023. At present, Iranian producers export mainly methanol - in the past years, an amount of 3.4 million tonnes. The second most important export product was polyethylene HDPE. The major part has been delivered to China so far. Analysts of Ceresana do not expect demand for imports in China to remain at the present level. However, new possibilities for exports for Iran are revealed, especially to Europe and to other Asian countries. Therefore, Iran is trying to complete numerous constructions of petrochemical plants with the support of foreign investors at present.

The Study in Brief:

Chapter 1 offers an overview over the market for petrochemical products and plastics in Iran. Data on current and prospective production, capacity, and trade is provided.
In chapters 2 to 6, Iranian market for methanol, ethylene, propylene, butadiene / butylene, and benzene / toluene / xylene respectively are presented. Hereby, the respective downstream products are taken into consideration, especially plastics such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, and polystyrene. Important figures and forecasts on demand, production, capacity, and trade are given for the years 2007 to 2023.
Chapter 7 is a useful directory of profiles of petrochemical producers in Iran. The profiles are clearly arranged according to contact details, ownership structure, product range, production sites, and summary profile. Furthermore, each profile includes specific information about the value creation chain as well as current and future production capacities.

Further information: www.ceresana.com/en/market-studies/chemicals/petrochemicals-plastics-iran/


About Ceresana
Ceresana is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector. For more than 10 years, Ceresana has been supplying several thousand customers from 60 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions. Ceresana's clients profit from implementation-oriented consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies and more than 100 independent multi-client market studies. Ceresana's analysts are experts in the following markets: Chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industrial components, consumer goods, packaging, agriculture, and construction materials.
Learn more about Ceresana at www.ceresana.com/en