NPC's half-year export earning to 22 September 2005 went beyond the $1bn mark. Sales volumes during this period consisted of over 2.9m tonnes of various products. NPC has planned to export $3bn worth of products and market as much as $2bn petrochemicals locally by the end of its financial year to 20 March 2006. NPC anticipates that its earnings from the export of petrochemicals will see a boost as several of its development projects are brought onstream in the second half of the current Iranian year which began on 21 March 2005. Mohamad Ehtiati, chairman of PCC, which is the NPC's commercial subsidiary, is upbeat that the anticipation will be realized as aromatics from Buali Sina complex, polymers from Amir Kabir facility, methanol from Zagros plant and LPG from Pars facility will join the NPC's portfolio of products chain. NPC's export earnings in 2004 reached $1.75bn. NPC's fifth five-year development plan which will run from 2005-09 will add 6m tonnes of ethylene, 900,000 tonnes of propylene, 3m tonnes of polymers, 3m tonnes of glycols, 5m tonnes of methanol and 3m tonnes of urea to the company's existing output capacity. Its long-term plan is to rake in as much as $20bn in sales by 2015.



Bisotoon Petrochemical Co., a subsidiary of NPC, will export its first linear alkylbenzene (LAB) parcel. The first LAB lot consists of 3,000 tonnes and is destined for India. It will be exported from the loading facilities located at Petrochemical Special Economic Zone, south of Iran. NPC commercial arm, PCC, handled the export. Bisotoon expects to export another lot of 4,000 tonnes soon. Located near the western city of Kermanshah, Bisotoon produces 50,000 tonne/year of LAB and 7,000 tonne/year of heavy alkylate as its main products. Meanwhile, during the first half of the current Iranian year to 22 September 2005, Shahid Tonduyan Petrochemical Co. (STPC) has exported over 22,000 tonnes of its purified terephthalic acid (PTA) to China and Turkey. During this period, STPC produced some 67,000 tonnes of products comprising some 47,000 tonnes of PTA and 20,000 tonnes of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Close to 20,000 tonnes of PTA has been used as feed for the production of PET at the same facility. STPC plans to consume all its PTA output internally when all its four lines of PET are operational. Currently it has brought onstream two of its PET lines.