Tehran, Iran, June 24
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Right now about half of Iran’s petrochemical output is exported to China, according to Fariborz Karimaei, deputy chairman of Iran's Association of Petrochemical Industry Corporation.
This is while South Korea and Japan’s share of Iranian petrochemicals has approached zero, he told Mehr news agency June 24.
Despite sanctions, Iran’s petrochemical output has been on the rise in the past three years.
In the Iranian year corresponding to March 20, 2013 to March 20, 2014, Iran’s petrochemical and polymer output stood at 40.5 million tons. The number rose to 44.5 and 46.5 in the two years that followed, respectively.
The official stated that the output is likely to hit 50 million tons for the current Iranian year.
Last Iranian calendar year, the country exported 18.8 million tons of the products, a rise by three tons year on year.
During the sanctions years, Iran’s East Asian market in general did not change much. The country lost South Korea and Japan in return for China.
China’s share of Iranian petrochemical exports was 19 percent before the sanctions, to stand at 39 percent during the years of sanctions. Last year (Iranian calendar) China took in over 57 percent of Iran’s petrochemical export.
