Single forex rate to boost Iran's petchem exports

Head of Iran's National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Abbas Sheri Moqaddam underlined Tehran's resolve to hit the international markets with high-quality products, and called on relevant officials to help the NPC materialize its objective through unifying foreign exchange rate. Sheri Moqaddam said the petrochemical firms currently have to use revenues from selling their products to supply their needs overseas. “If petrochemical companies are supposed to bring in the hard currency they earn from exports into the country and instead purchase foreign currency more expensively for purchase of commodities and equipment it would not be economical for them,” he went on to say. “If a single foreign exchange rate is established many of the current problems will be resolved,” the official said. “We hope that with sustainable feedstock supply and single forex system, petrochemical plants will bring in more revenues from exports,” Sheri Moqaddam added. Iran earned $12bln from exporting petrochemicals in the last Iranian calendar year which ended on March 20, 2013. Nearly 60 countries, mainly from South and Southeast Asia, imported Iran’s petrochemical products in the previous Iranian calendar year. The Islamic Republic is determined to become the biggest petrochemical producer in the Middle-East. The country has significantly expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical production over the past few years, and the NPC has become the second largest producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the Middle-East after Saudi Arabia.