Iran ups petrochem exports by 18% in 7 months

 Iran's petrochemical exports have considerably increased in the first seven months of the current Iranian year (March 21-October 22) as compared with the same period last year, a senior trade official announced.
"Iran has exported 18 percent more petrochemical products in the first seven months of the current year," Head of Iran's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Valiollah Afkhamirad said on Sunday.
Last month, Managing Director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) Abbas Sheri Moqaddam announced that Iranian petrochemical plants have increased their market share in the Middle East.
"A sum of 21 percent of the Middle East's petrochemical market share belongs to Iran," Sheri Moqaddam said.
He said after Iran stopped its direct exports of petrochemical products to Europe in recent years, the country's target markets shifted to Asia and the Middle East.
Iran has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical products over the past few years, and the NIPC has become the second largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.
Iran exports petrochemical products to more than 60 countries. The main destinations include the Far East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.
Last year, NIPC's former Managing Director Abdolhossein Bayat announced that Iranian petrochemical plants will have a 41 percent share of the Middle-East's petrochemical production in 7 years time.
"Iran will have a share of 41percent in the Middle East's petrochemical output by 2020," Bayat said.
He noted that Iran has currently a share of 25 percent in production of the Middle East's petrochemical products.