In the petrochemical
industry, crude oil and gas are transformed into various polymer and chemical
products. Currently, more than 370 polymer grades and 80 chemical products are
produced in our country.
Petrochemical products
are considered raw materials for downstream industries, such as automotive,
textiles, footwear, household goods, packaging, paints and resins, adhesives,
solvents, cosmetics and hygiene products, pharmaceuticals, and many other
industries. Therefore, the petrochemical industry is regarded as the driver of
other industries.
The Supreme Leader's
office has long emphasized avoiding the sale of raw materials and, in his
recent remarks during a meeting with the leaders of the system in late April of
last year, he stated, "Unfortunately, raw materials are exported from the
country at cheap prices, and the final products are imported at high prices,
while with knowledge-based production, this process should be corrected, and
final products should be produced and exported."
As mentioned, final
products refer to the industrial products that use petrochemical products.
These final products include pharmaceuticals, clothing, shoes, machine-made
carpets, fertilizers, pesticides, paints and resins, detergents, household
goods, and many other materials and products.
One of the economic
sectors that has taken steps away from the sale of crude oil and gas is the
petrochemical industry. However, although this industry is on the path to
avoiding crude oil sales and completing the value chain, petrochemical product
exports are still considered semi-finished, and efforts should be made to
convert these products into finished products for domestic consumption or
export.
It is true that the
petrochemical industry is currently the most foreign currency-earning industry
in the country, but from a national perspective, we believe that if these
products are converted into finished products and then exported, the country's
foreign exchange earnings will increase significantly. This hope exists that
one day petrochemical product exports will decrease (assuming production
remains steady), but exports of finished products will increase. This will not
only create more jobs but also increase foreign exchange earnings.
It should not be
overlooked that one of the biggest challenges facing downstream industries is
securing capital in circulation to procure raw materials.
One of the ways to secure
this liquidity is through the credit sale of petrochemical products. In this
regard, the Ministry of Petroleum and petrochemical industry executives have
engaged in numerous negotiations and correspondence with holdings and
petrochemical companies, many of which have provided appropriate support in
this regard.
As an example, credit
sales of petrochemical products on the stock exchange reached an unprecedented
figure of 5,800 billion tomans just in the month of Khordad (June) this year.
This means that the petrochemical industry has provided 5,800 billion tomans in
facilities to downstream industries to procure raw materials.
Abbas Gholami
Director of Downstream
Industries Development, National Petrochemical Company