In recent years, maintenance planning—particularly major overhauls—has
emerged as a major challenge for producers and downstream stakeholders.
Sanctions have compounded the situation by hindering access to spare parts and
expansion equipment, prompting plants to shift toward preventive maintenance
strategies. However, according to Barmak Ghanbarpour, Chairman of the Trade
Commission of the National Association of Polymer Industries of Iran, the
quality of these overhauls has at times been insufficient, resulting in
unexpected shutdowns.
“These shutdowns often occur during periods of relative market
prosperity or when feedstock availability is limited—precisely when
full-capacity production is most needed,” Ghanbarpour said. “Interruptions at
such critical junctures not only reduce market supply but also undermine the
profitability of downstream units.”
He praised a recent directive by Abbaszadeh, Deputy Petroleum Minister
and CEO of the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), to reschedule overhauls of
major gas-consuming complexes to colder months. This move, Ghanbarpour said, is
a prudent and timely response to the country’s winter gas supply imbalance and
helps protect both production infrastructure and the national energy grid.
Ghanbarpour also emphasized the need for coordinated planning among
complexes to avoid overlap in overhaul schedules, particularly among
interlinked units within the supply chain. “Such coordination is essential for
maintaining market stability and requires unified management and voluntary
industry-wide cooperation,” he said.
He added that designing an integrated framework for overhaul timing,
grounded in plant capacities, infrastructure conditions, and regional climate,
would reduce the risk of sporadic market crises and enable long-term gains in
productivity and industry sustainability.
“The recent directive must be viewed as a strategic, preventive
policy,” he concluded. “If implemented effectively, it can yield positive
outcomes across the entire petrochemical value chain.”