Agreement May Boost Iranian Chemicals

Officials of Iran’s National Petrochemical Co. are welcoming a nuclear agreement inked between Iran and six world powers. The agreement will temporarily curtail sanctions on petrochemicals and other Iranian exports. In return, Iran has agreed to curb enrichment activities and dilute existing enriched uranium stockpiles. The parties are negotiating a permanent agreement. Rapprochement could expand Iranian petrochemical exports, which stood at $14.7 billion in 2011, according to NPC. “Iran will be able to export methanol and other petrochemicals beyond its current export market of China and India,” Jefferies stock analyst Laurence Alexander told clients in a research note. Long term, this will push Chinese methanol prices upward, forcing a convergence with global prices for the chemical, he wrote.