Iran's first vice president Dr. Mohammad Reza Aref officially opened the acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and 1-3 butadiene (BD) plants at Tabriz Petrochemical Complex.
Tabriz's 35,000 tonne/year ABS plant, the first of its kind in Iran, started commercial production in July 2003. It covers an area of 25,500m² and is capable of producing 41 different grades of ABS. The 17,000 tonne/year BD which is in the same location covers an area of 14,000m². It also became commercially operational in July 2003.
South Korea's Cheil provided the technology for the ABS plant. Iran's Sazeh and South Korea's Samsung were the engineering and procurement (EP) contractors while Samsung carried out basic engineering. Local contractors Azar Simab, Nobon and Khosh Tarh carried out the construction work and Sanaye Fars was the erection contractor. Total investment costs for the plant were $43m and Rials 84bn.
BASF and Lurgi have provided the technology for the butadiene extraction unit, which will produce 17,000 tonne/year of 1-3 butadiene and over 15,000 tonne/year of raffinate.
Lurgi of Germany and Chagalesh of Iran carried out the basic engineering work while Chagalesh was the detailed engineering contractor. The procurement contract was given to Chegalesh and Ecolaire. It consumes 34,000 tonne/year C₄ cut which will be supplied by Tabriz Petrochemical's olefin plant. The plant was completed with an investment of $12 million and Rials 39bn.
Local contractors Tecnican and Sanaye Fars carried out the construction and erection work respectively. Execution work for the plants started in July 1999.
The BD/ABS projects use 19,000 tonne/year of styrene, 8,000 tonne/year of acrylonitrile, 1,000 tonne/year of alfa methyl styrene and 34,000 tonne/year of C₄ cut as feedstock. Styrene and C₄ cut are supplied by Tabriz complex. Acrylonitrile and alfa methyl styrene are imported.





Iran's first vice president Dr. Mohammad Reza Aref says development of petrochemical sector is a major priority in the government's economic policies. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the BD/ABS plants, Aref added that the sector played a crucial role in generating job opportunities.



"In order to achieve an appropriate rate of employment in the country, the petrochemical downstream industries must be specifically strengthened," he said.
Aref stated that utilization of local products and attraction of foreign investment were among the key priorities for creating employment adding that "The government does its best to generate more employment opportunities."





Iranian petroleum minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh says the value of NPC's total production will top a record high of $2.2 bn by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (on 19 March 2004).
Zanganeh told participants at the inaugural ceremony of Tabriz's BD/ABS plants that Iran's petrochemical output, compared to industrial nations, was far from ideal. However, he added that "As the concerted endeavors are bearing fruit the value of NPC's output is expected to reach $4.4bn by March 2005 and $8bn by March 2006."
In 2003, NPC will bring onstream several of its projects, which are under construction at the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone including olefins No. 6, engineering polymers, 3^rd aromatics and 3^rd methanol.
Another major new investment initiatives are being developed at Pars Special Economic/ Energy Zone. They include world-scale ethylene, aromatics, methanol, and ammonia and urea facilities.
Mr. Zanganeh said, "One of the projects that will become operational later in the year is Amir Kabir Petrochemical Complex whose ethylene cracker has an annual capacity of 1m tonnes." Zanganeh said he anticipated that the completion of the NPC's projects would bring hundreds of plants in the downstream petrochemical sectors into operation.
He hailed the staff at the Tabriz Petrochemical Complex for their efforts to complete the BD/ABS plants in three years' time. In an upbeat tone, he said the growth prospects for the Iranian petrochemical sector were bright.





NPC expects to rake in export earnings of $1.2bn by the end of the current Iranian year, NPC president Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said at the inaugural ceremony of Tabriz's BD/ABS plants. The expected earning for the current year is some 28% higher than the company's earnings for the past Iranian year which ended on 20 March 2003. Nematzadeh said export revenues were $940m last year. He said NPC expected to achieve an export target of $1.6bn by next year.



Nematzadeh said since 1998 NPC has launched a $10bn investment program to develop Iran's petrochemical sector, adding that the investment would not only increase the national earnings but would also lead to further development of downstream industries and creation of job opportunities.





Petrochemical Industries Development Management Co. (PIDMCO), an NPC subsidiary, has shortlisted contractors for Ilam petrochemical project. PIDMCO has also issued invitation-to-bid (ITB) documents for the prospective contractors. It expects to sign the contract by the end of 2003. Ilam ethane-based cracker will be located in Ilam province, northwest of the oil-and-gas rich province of Khuzestan. It will produce 318,000 tonne/year of ethylene (polymer grade), 80,000 tonne/year of propylene (polymer grade), 300,000 tonne/year of high-density polyethylene (hdPE), 60,000 tonne/year of pyrolysis gasoline and 18,000 tonne/year of fuel oil.
A nearby gas refinery which is under construction, will provide feed for the plant which includes 168,000 tonne/year of ethane, 300,000 tonne/year of C₃₊ and 150,000 tonne/year of C₅ cuts.



Fanavaran Petrochemical Co., a subsidiary of NPC, is buckling down for precommissioning its world-scale methanol plant. Basic and detailed engineering work as well as supply of equipment were 100% complete while progress at construction and erection stage stood at 88% at the end of July 2003. The plant, also known as 3^rd methanol, is scheduled for precommissioning by late August 2003 with commissioning slated for late September 2003.
Necessary pieces of equipment are being erected at the site for receiving the required utilities including power, steam and nitrogen, which will be provided by the nearby Fajr utility complex.
Fanavaran also includes a 150,000 tonne/year acetic acid project and a 140,000 tonne/year carbon monoxide (CO) unit.
The capacity of the methanol plant is 1m tonne/year of which 740,000 tonne/year will be exported. Furthermore, 82,000 tonne/year of its output will be consumed as feed for the acetic acid plant. It will also supply Bandar Imam Petrochemical Complex with 178,000 tonnes of methanol annually.
Fanavaran feedstock include 330,000 tonne/year of CO ₂ which will be supplied by Razi and Marun Petrcohemical Complexes, 610,000 tonne/year of natural gas sourced by the National Iranian Gas Company. It will also consume 105,000 tonne/year of DM water, which will be supplied by Fajr Petrochemical Complex.
In addition to its 3^rd methanol, NPC is building a 1.65m tonne/year methanol plant in Pars Special Economic/Energy Zone, Assaluyeh. It has two methanol facilities in operation in Kharg Island and Shiraz with a capacity of 744,000 tonnes a year.
With the buildup in capacity, Iran's combined methanol output will reach 3.4m tonnes per year by 2005 enabling it to boost its share of global methanol production.
Fanavaran's acetic acid plant was 44% complete at the end of June 2003. It is scheduled for start-up at the end of 2004. The CO plant's overall physical progress was 40% by the end of June 2003. It is also expected to reach commercial production at the end of 2004.





PIDMCO has approved shortlisted contractors to carry out the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work for a monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant. Bid documents for the project are being finalized and are expected to be floated by mid August 2003 to the shortlisted contractors.
The plant will be built as part of Kharg olefin complex in the vicinity of the under construction Kharg ethylene facility. The MEG plant will consume 350,000 tonnes of ethylene and 380,000 tonnes of oxygen annually. Kharg olefin complex will supply the ethylene and parts of the oxygen. The remaining required oxygen will be sourced from an air separation unit that will be constructed as part of the utility complex.
The MEG plant is slated to produce 500,000 tonne/year of MEG, 50,000 tonne/year of diethylene glycol (DEG) and triethylene glycol (TEG).
Two 24,000 tonne tanks will be built to store the plant output.


Work is making headway on the eastern front of the Pars Petrochemical Port. Construction work on the eastern breakwater in tandem with pile driving of the LPG and ammonia jetties (berths No. 14 and 15) is reaching completion at a designated level of 3.5 meters above the chart datum where pipe-racks for products will be installed. The steel decks for these jetties are being fabricated at the workshops of the local company Sanaye Felezi Iran and transported to the site for erection.



The LPG and ammonia jetties are expected to be operational by mid December 2003 allowing for the loading and export of LPG and ammonia. This development is seen as a turning point in the development activities of the Pars Special Economic/Energy Zone.





Fajr Petrochemical Company (FPC), the NPC's centralized utility subsidiary in Petrochemical Special Economic Zone is ready to meet all utility demands of the processing plants in the Zone. FPC already has 250 megawatts/hour of electricity and 300 tonnes/hour of steam output available to be delivered to the processing plants.
FPC's air separation plant is already operational at full capacity. Its liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid nitrogen (LIN) storage tanks are full and the unit is ready to deliver nitrogen, oxygen, instrument air and plant air to production plants.
The water treatment plant is also fully completed. Storage tanks for fire fighting water, RO water, DM water and potable water are full awaiting to meet the clients' demand. Effluent treatment plant has been onstream since July 2003 and is ready to treat liquid waste and sewage of the process plants to protect the Zone's environment.



In addition to meeting the electric power of the plants within the Petrochemical Special Economic Zone, FPC also offers parts of the electricity demand of the Khuzestan province by being tied into the national power grid. Meanwhile, through its offsite distribution lines, FPC is already providing through its offsite network nitrogen, oxygen, instrument air, service air, RO water, DM water, service water, potable water, fire fighting water, clarified water and FGL to Razi, Bandar Imam, Amir Kabir, Khuzestan, Buali Sina, Shahid Tondguyan, Shimi Baft and Navid Zarchimi as per their requirement.
FPC's Managing Director, M. Sanaei announced that upon the insulation completion by mid August 2003, the utility complex will be to supply its clients with steam through two auxiliary boilers and the heat recovery boilers of its power plant.