The CEO of Sabalan Petrochemical, in a press conference held by the Methanol Working Group, stated that with the current situation, we will witness the gradual death of methanol petrochemical industries. Our demand is one thing, and that is to formulate the feedstock price.
Engineer Reza Karimi, during the press conference attended by the CEOs of methanol petrochemical companies at the headquarters of the Petrochemical Employers Association, emphasized the increase in feedstock costs, saying: “In Sabalan Petrochemical, we are suffering losses even without the issue of feedstock gas, due to the unavailability of oxygen as the secondary feedstock. Now, this issue has been added to the challenges. Although we incurred losses with a gas price of 5,000 Tomans, we were able to maintain stable production only with the exchange rate. ”
He further explained that Sabalan has been in operation for one year, with an investment of approximately $400 million. The plan was to repay the installments after the production and sale of methanol. But at what profit? The government must come to the aid of these companies. Government experts have reviewed the financial statements of large companies with more than 15 years of production experience listed on the stock market and stated that the feedstock price is not high. However, those companies had other investments and were profitable from those sources.
CEO of Sabalan added: When petrochemical companies such as Zagros and Kaveh, which have ships, tanks, and utility units, suffer losses, what do you think our situation is?
Karimi clarified: Currently, methanol prices fluctuate between 240 to 237 dollars. In this situation, our gas cost is 160 dollars, oxygen is 33 dollars, and the ship cost is 65 dollars. To be more precise, if you compare our gas rate of 28 cents in the petrochemical industry with the rates of 4, 8, and 10 cents in the countries around the Persian Gulf, Russia, and the United States, you will notice the difference. By looking at these numbers, it becomes evident how mistaken the assessment has been and the damage it has caused to the methanol industry and even the petrochemical industry.
He continued: There is no support in place. For example, they have stated that a 10% fee should be levied for transportation by non-Iranian vessels. But do we currently have an Iranian vessel for methanol transportation? This means an increase in production costs, even under the unjust sanctions we are facing.
The CEO of Sabalan concluded: With the current situation, we will witness the gradual death of methanol petrochemical industries. Our demand is one thing, and that is to formulate the feedstock price. Petrofarhang Holding has been established with the capital of the beloved cultural heritage of the country, and the current trend only means the loss of this valuable capital, which has been created by a fraction of their meager rights invested in this industry.
