Page 56 - IRANRptAug20

Iran’s Tabriz Petrochemical Company posts 15% production gain
On the side of the signing of the deal, “It’s true that our output is low because of cruel and illegal sanctions, but things won’t stay the same,“ Iranian Petroleum Minister Zanganeh said in a speech broadcast on state television. “We need to increase our production capacity to be able to return to the market in full force and restore our share whenever necessary,” he added.
Iran’s Tabriz Petrochemical Company (TPC) has recorded a 15% y/y gain in production in the Persian calendar month of Ordibehesht (April 20-May 20), NIPNA reported on May 26.
During the month, the plant reportedly produced 72,049 tonnes of petrochemical products, up from 67,508 tonnes in the previous Persian month. The company receives naphtha feedstock from the state-owned Tabriz refinery that serves the northwest of Iran and exports products to neighbouring countries including Turkey and Armenia. TPC products include polyethylene, polystyrene and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS).
The company noted the production increase was attained despite disruption in Iran caused by the country’s severe coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
9.2.2 ​Automotive corporate news
Hyundai removes two representative companies in Iran from website
Reopening of IKCO auto sales in Iran attracts 350,000 would-be buyers
Korea’s Hyundai has quietly removed from its main website the details of two companies that represent it in Iran, ​Asbe Bokhar​magazine reported on July 20.
Iran’s car sales environment is in deep decline given the ongoing anxiety and obstacles caused by US sanctions combining with economic life extinguished by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Asan and Pakro are reportedly the two representative companies that have disappeared from the website’s list of authorised international Hyundai vendors. Iran’s Kerman Motors and Soroush Diesel Mabna CO remain on the list.
Despite the deletion, Asan and Pakro can continue to operate in the field of Hyundai after-sales service in Iran. Both companies confirmed they intended to do so.
The unofficial nature of car sales representatives in Iran has become commonplace in the environment pressured by American sanctions. Toyota and BMW are two automakers that have kept their Iran dealerships open despite removing their names from their main websites.
Other carmakers, including Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Renault, Borgward and Kia continue to be linked with local representatives in Iran amid the sanctions.
More than 350,000 people signed up on the website of second largest Iranian automaker Iran Khodro Company (IKCO) for its end-of-May sales restart following a two-month delay in the enterprise once more making vehicles available to buyers, Tasnim News Agency has reported.
IKCO and SAIPA—which lately overtook IKCO to become the number one auto producer in Iran—rule the road in the Islamic Republic, running a duopoly over the Iranian car market. Such is the misarranged state of auto sales in Iran, imported cars, which make up less than 5% of overall sales, get stuck in port-side yards for up to three years, as state officials work out pricing for vehicles.
Sales website, esale.ikco.ir, which serves as the main portal for IKCO online sales, saw some 350,000 people who signed up for vehicle purchases receive a user code enabling them to play a part in one of the largest pre-order events
56​ IRAN Country Report August 2020 www.intellinews.com