Some war-stricken petchem units restart production, official says
Market seen stabilizing as imports rise, exports halt
Some petrochemical units damaged during the recent US-Israeli war on Iran have returned to production, an Iranian polymer industry official told IRNA on Sunday, adding that emergency measures are expected to stabilize the polymer market.
Saeed Torkaman, chairman of the board of the National Polymer Industries Association of Iran, said several industrial units across the petrochemical value chain — from feedstock to finished products — were hit in the conflict that began in late February.
“Several industrial units had gone out of production, but industry engineers shortened the reconstruction period at an unbelievable pace, and fortunately some lines have returned to operation,” he said, IRNA reported.
While no official statistics have yet been released on the extent of damage to industrial facilities, attacks on the petrochemical and steel sectors ranked among the most prominent targets of the campaign.
“A number of production units are still halted, and this issue has been raised in specialized meetings,” he said. “The government has made several important decisions to manage the situation, including organizing the import of raw materials.”
“In this regard, traders — including the trading arms of petrochemical companies — have been invited to carry out imports to meet short-term market needs so that these products can be offered with reasonable profit margins on the commodity exchange,” he said, adding that, “The trading companies of petrochemical complexes have also been required to seriously participate in the import process.”
“We need 500,000 tons of imports,” Torkaman said.
He also reported a temporary ban on petrochemical exports and heightened oversight of warehouses. “Equivalent to several weeks of supply is available in warehouses for offering on the commodity exchange, and the offering of polymer materials will resume starting this week,” he said.
According to Torkaman, industry sources indicate that strict monitoring by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade on warehouses has closed the path of intermediation and speculation for hoarders, and conditions are moving toward stability.