Italy’s Techint Engineering and Construction signed an agreement with Ardabil Petrochemical Company to provide the technical know-how for the construction of a 500,000-ton petrochemical unit in northwest Iran, the company’s head of the board of directors said.
The contract, worth €34 million ($40 million), was signed between Giorgio Veronesi, Techint’s commercial manager, and Bahram Shahsavari, Ardabil Petrochemical Company’s head of the board of directors, in Tehran on Tuesday, NIPNA, the official portal of the National Petrochemical Company, reported on Tuesday.
“The unit, to be completed in 18 months, will convert natural gas to value-added products, namely polypropylene and olefin. The unit will produce 500,000 tons of petrochemical products per annum,” Shahsavari said, adding that the mega project will create 10,000 jobs in the region.
Pointing to lengthy talks with the Italian firm since mid-2016, the official said negotiations were mainly centered on completing the value chain and manufacturing polypropylene from low value-added commodities like methanol.
“Technology transfer is an indispensable part of the agreement,” he said, adding that as per the terms of the deal, Iranian experts will be trained by Techint specialists for installing utilities and running the unit upon its completion.