Foreign countries line up for Iranian petrochemicals after nuclear deal

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 26 By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Foreign countries and especially India, African and the South American states, have lined up to buy Iranian petrochemical products after Iran and the six world powers reached a breakthrough deal early on Sunday on Tehran's nuclear programme, Mehr News Agency reported on November 25. Chairman of the Association of Iranian Petrochemical Producers, Ahmad Mahdavi, told Mehr that lifting sanctions on the country's petrochemical industry is welcomed, but there is no surplus of petrochemicals to be exported. Demands for buying urea fertiliser and ammonium from Iran have increased, he noted. The National Iranian Petrochemical Company has welcomed lifting international sanctions against the Iranian petrochemical industry after Iran and the six world powers reached a breakthrough deal early on Sunday. The company has said in a statement that is ready to re-establish relations with other countries. According to the deal between Iran and the P5+1, embargoes will be suspended for the sectors of precious metals, car production and petrochemical exports. The group of six will also allow purchases of Iranian oil at low levels. On May 31, The United States blacklisted eight companies in Iran's petrochemical industry, sending a warning to the Islamic Republic's global customers as Washington strives to cut off funds to the country's nuclear programme. Sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union halved Iran's oil exports last year depriving the government of billions of dollars in revenue and pushing up already high inflation and pushing down the value of its currency, the rial. According to Iranian Customs Administration, Iran's petrochemical exports declined 33 per cent in the past Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20, 2013, compared to the previous year and reached $10 billion. During the first seven months of the current Iranian calendar year (ended on October 22), petrochemical exports fell 12 per cent and stood at $5.592 billion. However, former National Iranian Petrochemical Company head Abdolhossein Bayat said in August, despite sanctions, Iranian petrochemical products are being exported even to European countries. Bayat said since the past eight years, the country's annual petrochemical output has increased by 38 million tons, he added. The output will surpass 75 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 2014), he noted.