Javad Owji, the Iranian oil minister made the remarks on a visit to 16th International Exhibition of of Plastic, Rubber, Machinery, and Equipment that is held at the Tehran International Exhibition Fairground from September 21 to 24, 2022.
Owji said that "Last year, the petrochemical industry injected $12.5 billion into the Nima system (an exchange system run by the Central Bank of Iran to give needed foreign currency to Iranian merchants), and based on the statistics available in the first 6 months of this year, compared to the same period last year, we see an increase in the exports of petrochemical products in both weight and dollars value."
The minister said that the country's petrochemical industry cannot easily be sanctioned.
He went on to say that "Through the efforts of the people involved in the petrochemical industry, for the first time the export of the catalyst of the petrochemical industry to Russia (the Russian petrochemicals company Sibur) has been done this year and based on the promise made by the officials of that country, we will achieve complete self-sufficiency in the catalyst industry by the end of the 13th administration."
As regards the exports of petroleum products to Lebanon, Owji said, "We have been exporting to this country since last year, and since then, the money from that export has been fully received."
MNA/FNA14010630000610