Page 43 - IRANRptFeb21

Iran’s Rouhani inaugurates $800mn ammonia, urea production complex
National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) to export its first oil cargo from the Jask terminal by the end of the current Iranian calendar year, which concludes on March 20, 2021.
Dehqani made the announcement following meetings with contractors and project managers.
Of the $1.8bn total project cost, the Goreh-Jask pipeline is anticipated to come in at around $1.1bn, with the remainder being spent on the development of the port. The Jask port will feature 20 tanks with a total storage capacity of 10mn barrels of crude, with plans in plans to expand export infrastructure.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on November 26 inaugurated an $800mn ammonia and urea (carbamide) production complex built by Lordegan Petrochemical Company in the southwest of the country.
The facility, located in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, has the capacity to produce 677,000 tonnes/yr of ammonia and 1.075mn tonnes/yr of urea. Rouhani said during the opening ceremony that the output would be exported and that Iran was ready to supply the international market at lower ammonia and urea prices than usually available, the official IRNA news agency reported. He also encouraged foreign investors to become involved in Iran’s petrochemical industry, and other industries the country is developing.
The prospects for such involvement will very much depend on whether the upcoming US Biden administration lifts the Trump era sanctions that apply to Iran.
Earlier this week, Mehr news agency reported official data as showing that ​Iran produced seven million tonnes of petrochemical products in the first seven months of the current Persian calendar year ​(from March 21 to October 22). The volume marked year on year growth of more than 8%.
9.1.2 ​Automotive sector news
Iran’s central bank to inject 150 trillion into troubled auto producers
Central Bank of Iran (CBI) governor Abdul Nasser Hemmati has said that the national lender plans to inject Iranian rial (IRR) 150 trillion ($607.3mn at the free market rate, $3.6bn at the official rate) in loans into local auto producers Iran Khodro (IKCO) and SAIPA to stem losses they have suffered in the past year, ​Eqtesad Iran​ reported on January 31.
IKCO and SAIPA, part state-owned companies that are the two largest automakers in Iran, have haemorrhaged cash amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, which has seen car sales plummet and belts tightened across the country.
The loans are to be provided through a newly developed financial instrument known as “GAM” by its Iranian acronym, put together to support industry in Iran impacted by the pandemic and US sanctions.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei previously ordered authorities to help the loss-making auto giants increase local auto output by 50%, including by pushing ahead with launching new car models.
Recently released production data shows that IKCO, SAIPA and third largest automaker in Iran Pars Khodro (previously GM Iran) together manufactured and assembled 730,787 cars during the first 10 months of the current Persian calendar year (March 20, 2020 – January 19, 2021).
According to the data, IKCO manufactured 388,094 vehicles, SAIPA 262,038 vehicles and Pars Khodro 80,655.
In the same time, the companies exported 1,300 vehicles to nine countries, including South Africa, Azerbaijan, Spain, UAE and Iraq.
Based on previous data released by the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and
43​ IRAN Country Report February 2021 www.intellinews.com