Petchem privatization racing ahead

With several petrochemical companies listed on the stock market, the privatization drive in the petrochemical industry is to be completed by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (ending in March 2014). The petrochemical share in the implementation of Article 44 of the Constitution will become more significant this year. National Petrochemical Company (NPC) has claimed the top spot among Petroleum Ministry subsidiaries in terms of privatization. It has so far respected all its commitments and Persian Gulf Holding is to list on the stock market in the near future. Negotiations are also under way between petrochemical industry managers for the privatization of Petrochemical Research and Technology Company (PRTC) and Mahshahr Special Economic Zone. Official figures indicate that nearly 99percent of Iran’s petrochemical companies have so far been privatized. Petrochemical companies, which are all lucrative, are influential in the capital market and investment in the petrochemical industry is always profitable. State Privatization Organization has announced that the petrochemical industry accounts for 20 percent of the total privatization in the country and that privatization in the petrochemical industry has developed this sector. Since 2006, 25 petrochemical production units have been sold to domestic or foreign private sectors and 15 other companies are being privatized. With the privatization of these companies, private sector activists in the petrochemical industry will be able to meet domestic needs and strengthen their presence in the global markets. For its part, the stock market has shown growth thanks to petrochemical shares. That shows the significance of petrochemical companies in Iran’s economic development. NPC managing-director, Abdol-Hossein Bayat, recently said that privatization in petrochemical industries has proven lucrative, saying more petrochemical units are up for privatization. Director for stocks affairs of NPC Morteza Rahimian also said recently that petrochemical companies account for more than 50 percent of privatization in the petroleum industry. According to Rahimian, petrochemical shares worth 108 trillion rials were sold up to March.