The vice president of the association and the head of the Petrochemical Research Institute of the Polymer Research Institute explained the problems and solutions of the polymer industries
The need to establish appropriate laws for the dynamic spirit of the circular economy
Polymer and plastic industries in Iran are competitive industries, and by avoiding raw sales and increasing value-added products, significant foreign exchange is possible in this industry. Of course, this industry is also facing challenges that hinder the development and growth of this industry.
In the following, in a conversation with Dr. Shervin Ahmadi, the head of the Iran Petrochemical Research Institute, a member of the academic staff of the university, the director of research and development of Krangin and Ginoplast, and the vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Masterbatch and Compound Association and the Polymer Scientific Association, we discuss the challenges of the plastic industry.
What is the most important challenge of the plastic industry?
As in previous years, the government’s intervention in determining the exchange rate is the most important challenge facing the plastic industry. By the way, in this year, it seems that despite the whispers of international agreements and understandings, the changes in the price of the dollar will cause fluctuations, and by sending oil dollars to the domestic markets, in practice, the government will artificially keep the value of the rial high, and this will cause Domestic production may be more expensive for us than imports. This will be the most important challenge facing the complementary industry this year.
To what extent are the machines used in the plastic industry updated?
One of the issues raised in the country’s industry is the exhaustion of parent industries. The upstream industries in the plastics industry have not been updated for a long time and the tendency to produce plastics with very low added value is still strong. Domestic polyethylene and polypropylene units have not yet moved towards the production of special plastics, while the new rules defined regarding packaging have caused the consumption of these products to gradually decrease in the world. Therefore, many products that are still produced in our country will remain without demand in the world market. This problem exists in complementary industries; Because it has not been invested in new technologies for a long time, and in practice, they have turned to buying low-quality machines and equipment. In the past, Iranian artisans cooperated with global freight brands and bought and used the best machines; But currently, machines are used in the finishing industries that are unknown in the world and lower the quality level of the manufactured products. This is the second problem that threatens the polymer industry and its value chain in the country.
By the way, another challenge facing the plastic industry from upstream to downstream is to move away from branding. Unfortunately, we don’t have globally recognized brands in our country. National Petrochemical Industries Company was once prominent in the world, but now it is not as reliable as it was in the past, and this is considered a threat to us. We fragmented the National Petrochemical Industry Company to its greatness and created small companies with small capitals. The development of our industries is in trouble, we must either advance the development in this industry transversely and increase the volume of production, or advance the development along the industry and complete the value chain, unfortunately none of these cases are done correctly. has not been
On the other hand, our competitors in the Persian Gulf always create innovative products from upstream industries as well as stronger complementary industries, and this is the danger that threatens our industry and turns us into an old, worn-out and second-hand industry, and we must know that despite These conditions will soon lose our position; Therefore, it is necessary for industry leaders to think of a solution and focus more on this industry. This industry has suffered many times due to multiple reasons; From the lack of planning regarding monetary value adjustment, taxes that are not properly planned, units that have been set up one after another in the country and instead of producing new products, they have produced the same old products, to numerous cumbersome laws that have been imposed on the industry.
With the current trend, we cannot use the forces that exist in our industries, we cannot use the natural infrastructure in the best way.
We have a very large area in the south and north of the country, but we do not take advantage of them, and instead of deploying large petrochemical plants in the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea, we have deployed them inside the country. away from the seas, if we had built our complementary industries by the sea, no doubt, in addition to causing less damage to water resources, we would have had very simple loading and transportation and would have been easily connected to world markets, but Unfortunately, we have not done this; Of course, it is still not too late and this work can be done well, but it should be noted that with the passage of time, opportunities for growth and development pass quickly.
How does the economy and fluctuations in economic conditions affect the plastic market?
Another threat that has created a challenge in this industry is the circular economy and sustainable development. We do not have laws that can make the spirit of circular economy more dynamic in practice in Iran, and the establishment of these laws is one of the requirements for achieving sustainable development in Iran. The next issue is the laws and international relations and treaties, for example, a fixed tariff has been established for the import rate of goods in Iran, and if we want to import a product, we have to pay the tariff in order to be allowed to import. On the other hand, if we want to export goods to these countries, we may not pay such a tariff and we need to pay much higher tariffs. This will lead to the weakening of the national economy.
Therefore, in order to maintain global and regional markets, we need interactions with the countries of the world and regional interactions with the aim of supporting domestic industries.
What positive effects can holding specialized conferences in the field of polymer and plastic industry bring?
Conferences should be considered not only as an event, but as a think tank, a think tank held between industry leaders and activists. Polymer industry is one of the industries whose users and activists generally have university education. Undoubtedly, the discussions that are raised in the conferences and exhibitions of the plastic industry in Iran can be effective for the activists, but what distinguishes these conferences is that it is a think tank for the decision makers and elders of this industry.
This think tank has increased sensitivities to the issues of the day. If we are more sensitive to technology trends, we can expand our think tank, achieve more and create stronger non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the industry.
