Iran's first annual plastic and rubber exhibition will be held on December 10-14, 2002 in Tehran. The exhibition aims to bring together the downstream petrochemical industries and to become a platform for the interaction of major players in plastic and rubber industries engaged in fields such as:

. Raw materials, including thermoplastics, elastomers, coating compounds, foams and intermediates, synthetic rubbers, adhesives, paints and resins, additives and fillers.

· Semi-finished products, including spare parts, ball bearings, conveyor belts, wire and cable, laboratory equipment, auto parts.

. Machinery and equipment, including machinery and equipment for processing, finishing and recycling plants, post-processing plants, printing and marking, welding machines, moulds and dies, gauging, control and test equipment.

· Services, including computer software services, trade directories, specialized books and periodicals, engineering services.



This exhibition is being organized by NPC in association with the country's Ministry of Industries and Mines, Ministry of Commerce, Export Promotion Center, and a number of leading local automobile-making companies and associations involved in the downstream petrochemical industries.
Contact IranPlast 2002 for more information.

Tel: +98 21 8554758.
Fax: +98 21 8554759
E-mail: iranplast@nipc.net
Website: www.nipc.net

ABB Lummus Global B.V. held a Propylene Maximizing Seminar in Tehran. The seminar stipulated that, compared to ethylene, there was a high demand growth and a low capacity growth for propylene. The imbalance, it was argued, would create a gap in propylene capacity in the near future.Some of the main technologies, which are used to produce propylene were discussed extensively. These technologies included steam cracking, fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and the relatively new olefins conversion technology (OCT).
Among other topics were the potential integration and synergy options between a refinery, steam cracker and OCT unit. Propylene, it was argued, may be recovered by the refinery in a FCC, independent of the steam cracker. Speakers at the seminar said the same was true for stand-alone steam crackers. In case propylene is produced from both technologies, the impact of other refinery units such as hydrocrackers is important. The most important impacts of the C4 strategy was also reviewed, because the C4 is conventionally used for producing alkylate gasoline and MTBE.
The economics of several options was another topic at the seminar. The discussion showed that propylene produced at traditional FCC units in refineries, as stand-alone units, has a marginal internal rate of return (IRR). IRR was better at high severity FCCs (for high propylene yield) while a combination of FCC and steam cracker seems to produce the highest IRR.
The seminar concluded that a synergy between FCC and steam cracker units is very beneficial as long as the gasoline and light crude oil are further handled by the refinery.



Accenture, the management and technology services organization, held a two-day workshop at the NPC's management training center in Tehran.
The workshop discussed the common challenges which a corporate may run into during implementation of a strategic plan and some of the best practices which can help the success of the plan. Elsewhere at the workshop, Accenture's approach and expertise in master plans for development and business architecture fundamentals were examined.It also discussed the importance of Supply Chain and Supply Chain Value Transformation (SCVT) focusing on approaches, principles, key projects for a fast growing petrochemical company and size of benefits. Other points analyzed where: How to start a SCVT project? Which value can a petrochemical company obtain from a SCVT initiative?
The workshop also examined emerging models related to spare parts management and sourcing/procurements supply chain planning.Potential approaches to enhance capabilities in marketing and sales formed another part of the workshop.
Other issues discussed at the workshop included: approaches in improving strategy development, finance and control and the importance of an integrated performance management process.