(ICIS) -- Iran plans to raise its petrochemical capacity to 100m tonnes/year by 2015, a source at state-owned oil and petrochemical major National Petrochemical Co (NPC) said late on Sunday. The source was speaking on the sidelines of the two-day Iran Petrochemical Forum which ended on 22 May. ⌠Around 70m tonnes of this total capacity will be NPC's contribution. The rest will be accounted for by private companies in Iran, the source said.
The products being looked at are methanol, ethylene, urea, polymers and aromatics (see table below). The current installed capacity is around 51m tonnes/year, he added.
In 2011 alone, NPC is looking at petrochemical projects totalling 8m tonnes/year, he said. But some industry sources said they think NPC may not be able to achieve its expansion target on time because of the difficulties in obtaining the technology and financing.