Iran exports $12bln of petrochemical products

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for Petrochemical Affairs Abdolhossein Bayat said Iran's foreign exchange revenues will rise with the development of petrochemical industries in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 20, 2012). Bayat said Iran's revenues from petrochemical exports stood at 12 billion dollars last year. He said those active in the petrochemical industry will double their efforts this year, thus bringing about higher productivity and production. He noted that domestic petrochemical production capacity stands at 51 million tons now, which will rise to 100 million tons in the future. Iran had exported 16.2mln tons of various petrochemical products to 60 countries around the world previous year. Previous year's revenue from petrochemical exports hit $10.4bln. China and Western Europe are the main destinations of Iran's petrochemical exports followed by South East Asia, Far East, the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, Latin America and other countries.