95 percent of fixed petrochemical equipment was domestically manufactured

According to Energy Press, citing the National Petrochemical Industries Company, Hassan Abbaszadeh today (Saturday, December 5) at the opening ceremony of the 9th Specialized Exhibition of Domestically Made Products in the Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Industry (Asalouyeh), emphasizing the importance of building culture in supporting national production and restoring self-confidence, stated: Unfortunately, among young people, teenagers and even students, it is sometimes observed that the value of Iranian-made products has been weakened, and part of this situation is due to destructive advertising. If this belief and value is lost in the minds of the younger generations, issuing instructions alone will not solve the problem.
He emphasized that we must know what value “Made in Iran” has and what a huge amount of effort and employment of the country’s workforce is behind every Iranian product, adding: Holding exhibitions and visiting industry programs is an effective factor in strengthening self-confidence among different segments of society, especially the younger generation.
A $2 Billion Market for Domestic Companies
Explaining the state of the petrochemical industry’s dependence on foreign equipment and dividing this equipment into two groups with complex technology and simpler equipment, the Deputy Minister of Oil said: Petrochemical industries annually purchase about $2 billion in foreign-dependent equipment; a figure that indicates a large and strategic market for domestic companies. If this extensive need is met from within, not only will foreign dependence be significantly reduced, but significant employment will also be created in the country.
Abbaszadeh, pointing out that there are several major equipment groups in the petrochemical industry, continued: In the fixed equipment sector, which has a lower level of technology and sensitivity than rotating equipment, about 95 percent of the country’s needs are met domestically today. Only about 5 percent of this equipment is still imported from abroad, mainly due to restrictions related to licenses and technical knowledge; an issue that foreign companies set as a condition for cooperation with domestic manufacturers.
He considered the knowledge of converting methanol into propylene and polypropylene to be one of the key technical knowledge and said: The National Petrochemical Industries Company has invested in this knowledge and a valuable chain and its full ownership are in the possession of the Petrochemical Research and Technology Company. Possession of this knowledge allows us to oblige domestic manufacturers to produce special equipment for this process, similar to the conditions under which foreign companies force us to buy their own equipment.
Imposing foreign goods due to Iran’s dependence on licenses
The CEO of the National Petrochemical Industries Company clarified: Foreign companies impose their goods due to our dependence on licenses and, in addition to technical knowledge, sell the goods at many times the price, but having domestic technical knowledge frees us from this dependence.
Referring to the recent achievements of the petrochemical industry, Abbaszadeh said: At Apadana Petrochemical, for the first time, the internals of synthesis reactors were completely manufactured in the country, and the results were very favorable. At Dena Petrochemical (Sablan 2), the entire synthesis reactor was domestically manufactured.
He pointed out that in one of the projects, because the ownership of the technical knowledge of the methanol, propylene, and polypropylene production chain was in the hands of the Research and Technology Company, the Economic Council ordered that the National Petrochemical Company establish the executing company itself, and an effort was made to increase the average domestic manufacturing by at least 10 percent above the industry standard. He added: In this plan, the level of domestic manufacturing in the industry, which is usually 70 to 75 percent, has been targeted at about 85 percent. Many very special equipment have been domestically manufactured for the first time, and except for the single reactor, which has a special order due to the sensitivities of technical knowledge, all towers, drums, and fixed equipment have been domestically manufactured. We hope that by utilizing this plan, a large portion of these items will be officially recognized as domestic equipment and their foreign purchase will be prohibited.