An industry source said on Tuesday that petrochemicals shipment had accounted for $12 billion or 27% of Iran’s total exports in the 10 months to late January.
Hamdi Hosseini, a senior member of Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters Union (OPEX), said oil product exports from Iran had reached $13 billion between March 2022 and January this year.
Hosseini said that Iran had earned some $4.9 billion from exports of 6.6 million metric tons (mt) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the nine months to late December, an increase of 120% compared to the same previous period.
He said exports of methanol from Iran had reached $1.8 billion for 6.8 million mt of shipments in the nine months to late December.
The businessman added that Iran had exported 1.6 million mt of urea worth $975 million in the nine calendar months to the end of 2022, adding that exports of polymers also increased by 77% over the same period, Press TV reported.
Iran had earned some $1 billion from exports of bitumen over the 10 months to late January.
The figures come amid Iran’s continued efforts to increase its exports of petroleum products and petrochemicals as a solution to avoid foreign sanctions affecting its direct crude oil exports.
Experts say the policy has strengthened Iran’s non-oil exports and led to the creation of tens of thousands of new jobs in the country.
MNA/PR