Tehran – In an unveiling ceremony held in Khuzestan Province, Iran, this month, Karun Petrochemical Company (KPC) revealed its latest PU product – KLM100-C. The product, a laminate adhesive for food packaging, is the 19th petrochemical product to have been localised by KPC.
The Iranian government is keen to ‘indigenise’ petrochemical products, to mitigate the effect of economic sanctions imposed on the country.
KLM100-C has been manufactured in collaboration with Kimia Mana Polymer, supported by Persian Gulf Holding and Bandar Imam Petrochemical, according to a report from the Iranian Oil Ministry’s news agency, Shana.
KPC managing director, Alireza Seddiqizadeh, said at the ceremony: ‘The annual domestic market demand for this product is about four kt, and Karun Petrochemical Company has the capability to supply this amount. Currently, about $2,500 is spent importing each ton of this product. Producing four kt of the item will prevent about $10 million from leaving the country.’
Dr Mehrdad Azimi, PR director of Persian Gulf Holding, said: ‘If our enemies failed, it is because of the jihad-like efforts of the petrochemical industry, which resulted in the creation of Persian Gulf Holding, which is now one of the most successful companies in the world.’
Morteza Mohammadlou, CEO of Kimia Mana Polymer Company, explained that the process of reverse-engineering the laminate adhesive took three-and-a-half years. ‘We took petrochemical samples and synthesised them in the R&D department, and finally reached a stage where we could deliver the product to market with the necessary standards,’ said Mohammadlou.
According to Mohammadlou, all the raw materials for the production of the prepolymer were domestic, and the product is completely indigenous. While the initial thrust of the product’s development was to satisfy local demand – and reduce reliance on imports – Mohammadlou and Seddiqizadeh are now looking to export the product to other countries in the Persian Gulf region.
According to ISNA (Iranian Students News Agency), in 2020 KPC unveiled two PU products. MTDI and KMT-10 were developed to save Iran some $27 million, by eliminating the need to import similar grades that had previously been imported from Germany, China, South Korea and Japan.
