From billion-dollar investment to production halt; why did Gachsaran Petrochemical plant go bankrupt?

According to Energy Press, during the 13th government and Shahid Raisi’s emphasis on completing the unfinished plans, the construction of the Gachsaran petrochemical complex gained momentum, and the country’s most Iranian petrochemical complex was put on the path to product production after 2 decades of effort and waiting. But that was not all, contrary to everyone’s expectations, this petrochemical complex went out of business shortly after its launch and faced many problems.
The story of the Gachsaran petrochemical complex is a story of momentum that came to a halt instead of progress. A project with an investment of more than a billion dollars was started with the mission of producing one million tons of ethylene annually and delivering it to four downstream complexes of Borujen, Kazerun, Momsani and Dehdasht. However, this complex entered the cycle before the downstream units were ready. This lack of coordination in planning led to production without consumers, and as a result, two valuable product efforts were wasted.

Early commissioning was a disaster for Gachsaran
Saeed Baghbani, Director of Production Control at Petrochemical Industries Company, in an exclusive interview with Energy Press, examined and explained the situation at Gachsaran Petrochemical and said: In the planning of the work, priority and delay were not properly observed and Gachsaran came into service ahead of schedule. This caused it to have no consumers and wanted to inject its product into the Western ethylene pipeline.
According to the initial design, Gachsaran Petrochemical was to receive part of its ethylene production from the Western pipeline and, after combining it with domestic production, deliver it to consumers. However, with the early commissioning of Gachsaran and the lack of readiness of consumer units, a request was made to inject ethylene into the Western pipeline. Saeed Baghbani, Director of Production Control at Petrochemical Industries Company, explained that this measure was foreseen as a temporary solution so that if necessary, Gachsaran production could be injected into the pipeline.

Denial of the allegations raised, who is to blame?
The CEO of Gachsaran also mentioned the lack of cooperation of NPC Company regarding the non-completion or operation of the Siah Mekan pressure boosting station, which has caused the suspension of product shipments. However, Saeed Baghbani, in response to these remarks, stated: “I, who am now the production manager, was the project executor during the implementation of the plan and we built the Siah Mekan and Gachsaran stations. The claim made about the non-completion of these stations is not true, and if anyone makes such a claim, they can provide documents and evidence so that I can be held accountable. These statements are either incorrect perceptions or do not have a specific origin, and I deny them.”