As NPC is bringing more capacity onstream, its commercial wing Iran Petrochemical Commercial Co. (IPCC) has been conducting extensive market analyses to penetrate and secure presence in the global markets for several new products. The analyses cover products such as engineering polymers (epoxy resins and polycarbonate), melamine crystal, ethoxylates and EDC.



For engineering polymers and melamine crystal, China, Pakistan, Western Europe and Russia have been studied as market opportunities. Given their market potentials and considering the information that IPCC has gleaned about end users in each of the targets countries, it expects to start selling epoxy resins, polycarbonate and melamine with the highest netback price as the facilities begin commercial production.



NPC expects to start up its 20,000 tonne/year melamine crystal plant at the Khorasan Petrochemical Complex (KHPC) later this year. Its engineering polymers facility in the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone is also scheduled to start up later this year. The facility will produce 25,000 tonne/year of polycarbonate, 5,000 tonne/year of liquid epoxy resin and 5,000 tonne/year of solid epoxy resin.
IPCC has done market research studies for other forthcoming products such as ethoxylates. It is mulling over to exchange ethoxylates for raw material for the plant.





IPCC has stepped up efforts to diversify ways of supplying products from the NPC's complexes. In light of these efforts, it has concluded five bonded warehouse transactions (BWT) with leading Japanese, Korean and Chinese companies. Additionally, it has a BWT distribution arrangement in Jabal Ali, United Arab Emirates. BWTs offer several advantages including on time offtake, lower storage/warehousing and transport costs. They also ensure lower risk and better-priced deliveries to customers.



Over 90 percent of the marine shipment of IPCC's chemical liquids as well as bulk solid and container-loaded products which are sold based on CFR transactions have been transported via contracts of affreightment (COA). IPCC has signed annual COAs with major international shipping companies. Based on COAs, a specified amount of cargo is shipped over a given period.



IPCC, the commercial subsidiary of NPC, is looking for new outlets to absorb the ammonia and urea from Razi 3^rd ammonia, Assaluyeh and Kharg projects. The projects are planned to come on-stream between 2004 and 2006. IPCC is mulling over a proposal for lifting 677,000 tonne/year of ammonia out of Razi Petrochemical Complex's 3^rd ammonia plant, which is expected to start production in 2005.
NPC's urea plants will be among a number of world scale units to become operational between 2004-2006. They include Assaluyeh ammonia/urea project, Razi 3^rd ammonia plant and Kharg methanol/ammonia facility. Meanwhile, NPC has a 34% stake in Kermanshah ammonia/urea facility.
By 2006, NPC expects to have the capacity to export an additional 1.4m tonne/year of ammonia and 1.08m tonne/year of granular urea. At the moment, IPCC is selling all of the ammonia and urea that it produces on the spot market. However, it aims to have a sales portfolio consisting of spot and contract deals. Current urea production capacity is 1.75m tonne/year of which about 100,000 tonne/year can be exported. IPCC exports ammonia to India, Taiwan, the Philippines, Jordan and Turkmenistan. It aims to add Thailand, South Korea and South America to the list of its export markets once Kharg Island facility starts commercial operation in 2006.



In June 2003, IPCC and the Tunisian companies Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT) and Compagnie des Phosphates de Gafsa (CPG) signed a five-year commercial contract.
According to the contract IPCC will buy rock phosphate from Tunisia and will instead export sulfur to Tunisia.
Earlier, NPC and the Tunisian company Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT) had signed a contract for the revamping of Razi Petrochemical Company (RPC)'s phosphoric acid plant. RPC is an NPC's subsidiary. The contract was signed by RPC's managing director Mohammad Beirami and GCT's chairman and managing director Kais Daly in Tunisia in February 2003.