Representatives from 21 countries met in Iran to exhibit their products and technologies for the plastic and rubber industry.
They participated at the second international Iran Plastic and Rubber Show (IranPlast 2003), which officially opened in Tehran on Wednesday 10 December, against the backdrop of Iranian plastics industry set for substantial expansion. Iranian petroleum minister, Bijan Namdar Zaganeh inaugurated the event.
Some 170 companies from 21 countries plus 290 local companies attended the five-day show
It took up some 30,000 m² of the Tehran International Permanent Fair Grounds. NPC considers the event as a platform for the interaction of major players in the plastic, rubber and other petrochemicals related industries. The event is believed to promote the exhibitors' business relations in the growing Iranian market.
IranPlast 2003 showcased the following areas:

Raw materials

Machinery and equipment

Semi-finished & finished products

Engineering and technical services
The event's foreign sponsors included Italian Plastics and Rubber Processing Machinery and Moulds Manufacturers (Assocomaplast), Korea Plastic Processing Machinery Industry Cooperative (KPPMIC), Turkish Plastics Industry Association (PAGEV) and Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.
In 2002, the event attracted an estimated number of 20,000 visitors. Organizers said the number of visitors to the IranPlast 2003 showed a substantial increase.
Exhibitors and visitors also got an opportunity to attend several workshops, which were held on the sidelines of the show. The subjects covered included:

Customer relations management

Plastics recycling; past, present and future

Iran's ABS and the world market

Iran's PET and the world market

Promotion of downstream petrochemical products

Melamine crystal

Significance of ISO 9000 certificates in the plastic industry

Packaging in the plastic industry
The third IranPlast Show will be held on 4-8 December 2004.

"Petroleum Ministry will supply NPC with the feedstock it requires, including ethane recovered from gas as well as condensate and natural gas liquids (NGL), to help the company meet the requirements of its petrochemical projects," says the Iraninan petroleum minister,Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of IranPlast 2003, Zanganeh said petrochemical industry was a major option for Iran to increase its non-oil exports adding that the industry was expected to contribute to boosting Iran's economy by achieving self-sufficiency, localizing know-how and technology, and creating job opportunities through the expansion of downstream and related industries and sectors including research, technical and engineering activities.
Referring to the extensive availability of feedstock from the South Pars gas field, as well as the composition of its gas, "which is rich in raw material suitable for the production of polymers, underpin favorable outlook for Assaluyeh for the expansion of Iran's polymer industry", Zanganeh said.
The minister noted that olefin No. 9, which is a 50-50 joint venture with Sasol, and olefin No. 10, two of the NPC's projects which are being constructed in Assaluyeh, will add 1.5m tonne/year of polymers production to the company's current output slate once they are completed by 2005-2006.


With the completion of its current expansion program, NPC's polymers output capacity will reach 5m tonne/year by 2005-06 representing 2.3% of the global share of the polymers market. The company's share currently stands at 0.5%.
NPC president, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh told the opening ceremony of IranPlast 2003 that in the next several months, NPC's subsidiary Shahid Tondguyan Petrochemical Co. would start producing 90,000 tonne/year of bottle grade PET and 115,000 tonne/year of fiber grade PET. He added that the 300,000 tonne/year linear low-density polyethylene (lldPE) plant of Amir Kabir Petrochemical Co., and a 160,000 tonne/year polypropylene plant which has been sold to Navid Zar Chimi, a privately owned company, and the 300,000 tonne/year polypropylene plant of Marun Petrochemical Co. would also come onstream by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (which starts in the second half of March 2004), rising the country's polymer output capacity to 2.5m tonne/year.
Nematzadeh also noted that in 2005-06, NPC would bring onstream several other polymer facilities including Laleh Petrochemical Co., Arya-Sasol Co., Jam Petrochemical Co. and Shahid Tondguyan's 2nd PET plant.
"At the end of Iran's fourth five-year plan in 2009, the country will have 3.8% of the global share of the plastics market", Nematzadeh said.




Eva Rugenstein is the director of the Press Department of Messe Dusseldorf, the leading German exhibition organizer, which organizes Dusseldorf K exhibition, one of the world's largest plastics shows.She attended IranPlast 2003. Eva talks to NPC News Bulletin about the impression she had following her attendance at the show.
"Seeing current economical and technical developments in Iran, the country becomes an interesting market for the international plastics and rubber related industries. And IranPlast has the chance to assume the position of its central marketplace. The 2nd edition of that trade fair gave a detailed overview of the national activities and saw a promising participation of international companies.
As the show was clearly structured and very well organized, I have no doubt that it will further expand and attract even more exhibitors and specialized visitors. One more point deserves to be mentioned: I was taken with the comfort and convenience of the working facilities for journalists. Let me add a personal remark: My visit at IranPlast in Tehran was my very first trip to Iran. Though it was only a short stay, I came home with many positive impressions, especially of the warm-hearted and open-minded people whom I had the pleasure to meet."