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Japan to build multi-million petrochemical plant in Iran | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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TOKYO, (KUNA) — Japan”s Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Company and Mitsui Chemicals Inc. have secured an order from a Japanese-Iranian joint petrochemical operations body to build a polyethylene plant in Iran, a leading financial daily here reported Friday.

The order is believed to be valued at around JPY 20 billion (USD 184 million), said the Nikkei Shimbun. The petrochemical plant with an annual capacity of 300,000 metric tons will be constructed as of February 2006 in southern Iran along the Arabian Gulf coast.

The plant will use natural gas extracted from large gas fields in the Arabian Gulf to produce polyethylene starting in 2008, with Mitsui Chemicals” technologies.

Mitsui Engineering will be tasked with design, parts procurement, construction and test runs. Itochu Corp. teamed up with Thailand”s Siam Cement Public Co. group and its state-run PTT Public Co. group to set up an investment company that in turn holds a stake in a joint venture with Iran”s state-run National Petrochemical Co.

With petrochemical demand in China and Southeast Asia sharply outpacing supply, exports of such products from the Middle East are expected to pick up. The petrochemical venture will ship products primarily to China, where demand is soaring.