Abdollah Samadi, speaking at a specialised
meeting on "Explaining the Petrochemical Value Chain" held at the
27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition, said
completing the value chain was a key goal in the country's upstream documents.
"Petrochemical is one of the industries that
plays an effective role in achieving this goal," he said.
He stressed the need to avoid selling raw
materials, and said intermediate petrochemical products should be connected to
final products.
Petronad Asia, which is part of Kimia Holding Company,
is the first large-scale project in Iran that connects the petrochemical
industry to the pharmaceutical industry, he said.
He said petrochemical raw materials would be
turned into intermediates and then into pharmaceutical ingredients at Petronad
Asia's chemical park.
He added that importing pharmaceutical materials
was costly for the country and affected its trade balance.
"Completing each of these chains creates
high added value for the country," he said.
He noted that the world was moving towards
developing downstream industries, and said Iran should focus more on completing
the value chain and connecting upstream petrochemical investors to midstream
and complementary industries to ensure supply chain and production stability.
Samadi said Petronad Asia's petrochemical park
would produce more than 160,000 tonnes of various products by 2024. Two of its
six units have already started production and this capacity will be connected
to the country's pharmaceutical industry.
The 27th Iran International Oil, Gas, Refining
and Petrochemical Exhibition officially opened on Wednesday and will run until Saturday.
The event has attracted 200 foreign companies from 13 countries amid a revival
of Iran's oil industry.