Iran exported more than nearly 16 million tons of petrochemical and polymer products including low-density and heavy polyethylene, benzene, natural gas liquids, and paraxylene for USD 12.856 billion from the Assaluyeh Port in the south of the country during the first 336 days of the current calendar year which started on March 21, 2012, a report from the Mehr News Agency said on Thursday.
Over the same period, Iran also gained more than seven billion dollars from exporting gas condensate to European and Asian countries from Assaluyeh, where South Pars is located.
The main destinations for Iran’s products were Spain, Romania, Belgium, India, China, Japan, Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia.
Iran has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical products over the past few years, and the National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has become the second-largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.
The Islamic Republic exported a total of 18.2 million tons of petrochemical and polymer products, worth about USD 14.2 billion, to more than 60 countries in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 19, 2012).
Iran, which sits on the world's second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, has been trying to enhance its gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its South Pars gas field.
Development of Iran’s South Pars gas field, which is shared with Qatar, has been divided into 24 phases. It holds about 14 trillion cubic meters of gas, or about eight percent of the total world reserves, and more than 18 billion barrels of liquefied natural gas resources.
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Iran has earned nearly USD 13 billion from exporting petrochemical and polymer products from the giant offshore South Pars Gas Field to mainly European and Asian countries since March 2012, says one report.
News ID 184409
