TEHRAN, Nov. 14 (Shana) � Iran is hunting out customers in international petrochemical markets it has lost because of the sanctions, managing director of Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company (IPCC) said.
"We are negotiating with countries like Spain and CIS member states for reopening our branch offices; we are also trying to form joint ventures with petrochemical heavyweights in these countries so we will be able to recapture our lost markets," Mehdi Sharifi Niknafs said.
He said one of the main features of IPCC is that it has long and mid-term contracts for selling petrochemicals which can be used as guarantees for receiving foreign finances.

Iran has 67 under-construction petrochemical projects waiting to be financed for completion, he added.
"Once completed, the projects will bring Iran's petrochemical production capacity to 120 million metric tons per year," Niknafs said.

He said IPCC has retained its structure for selling petrochemicals overseas despite all the challenges imposed by the sanctions on Iran's nuclear agenda.
IPCC earned 3.5 billion dollars by exporting petrochemicals during the previous Iranian colander year which ended on March 20, he added.

The company contributed to 35% of the country's petrochemical exports during the year.
Iran's petrochemical exports has been falling by average 5mt/y ever since the US-led sanctions were imposed on Tehran.

By SHANA