Tehran — Iran officially inaugurated Tuesday two petrochemical projects -- the Marjan petrochemical plant, with capacity to make 1.65 million mt/year of methanol, and the third phase of the Pardis petrochemical plant, with capacity to produce 1.755 million mt/year of urea and ammonia.
The plants, in Iran's southern energy zone at Assaluyeh in Bushehr province on the Persian Gulf, were launched by President Hassan Rouhani accompanied by oil minister Bijan Zanganeh.
According to local media, Pardis is the biggest urea-producing plant in the world with capacity of 5.265 million mt/year.
The first phase of the Damavand power plant was also launched with capacity of 650 MW, supplying power to the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Assaluyeh.
"The country's petrochemical and polymer production capacity is currently around 62.15 million mt/year. With inauguration of Pardis and Marjan petrochemical plants, this capacity will pass 65.55 million mt/year," Reza Norouzzadeh, managing director of National Petrochemical Company, told state television on Monday.
Two other methanol plants, Bushehr and Kaveh, are in final construction phase and will be launched before the current Iranian year ends on March 20, he said.
"Today, it's a day of psychological and economic war against Iran. Oil, gas and petrochemical industries are the front runners of this war because when the enemy wants to impose sanctions on us, it touches these industries," Rouhani said in a speech televised from Assaluyeh.
"Some of these projects that were launched today had started during the sanctions times and launched while the enemy is thinking new sanctions," Rouhani said referring to the US sanctions before Iran's nuclear deal became effective in January 2016.
Meanwhile, Zanganeh said that Iran's production of petrochemical feedstock ethane is expected to rise to 8 million mt this year, from 6.11 million mt in 2017 and 3.8 million mt in 2016, according to the oil ministry's news service Shana.
