polyolefin and olefin production in iran: current and future capacities

Due to easy availability of cheaper raw material and increase in new applications, the use of polyolefins in variousindustries is becoming a major priority. the middle east region, on account of its vast oil and gas reserves has,in the last decade or so, been developing many new petrochemical complexes with their expansion into colossalpolyolefin production capacities. the predictions are that by 2020 the middle east region will dominate the polyolefinindustry as a whole. furthermore, with proven oil reserves of about 21.7 thousand million tons (4th world ranking) andnatural gas of 34.0 trillion cubic meters (1st world ranking), iran’s petrochemical industry is supported by diverse andabundant feedstock reserves. in line with other polyolefin producers’ developments in the middle east, iran's nationalpetrochemical company (npc) has undergone massive structural and technological transformations in the last twodecades in order to set up ambitious plans for further capacity increase and native technology developments. thisarticle mainly focuses on iran today’s position and its future plans in the polyolefins industry