German Chemical Firms First to Fund Projects in Iran

Head of Iran's National Petrochemical Company (NPC) said two leading chemical companies from Germany have signaled their readiness to spend between 8 and 4 billion euros for development of petrochemical projects to make Germany the first post- sanctions partner of the sector in Iran.

Abbas Shari-Moqaddam said the two firms are yet to finalize the level of their investments in Iran but are currently carrying studies about investment potentialities in Iran's petrochemical sector.

He said NPC is in talks with investors from Germany, Spain, Japan and Italy, adding that foreign investors are waiting for finalization of feedstock pricing formula and the full implementation of the Join Comprehensive Plan Of Action (JCPOA). "Provided that the requested land is secured for the two German firms, they will start building petrochemical plants in Assaluyeh, south of Iran," the NPC chief added.

Iran has dozens of half-finished petrochemical projects which, once completed, will double the country's petrochemical production capacity from the current 60mt/y. Among the projects that have made over 70% progress are: phase II of Karoun petrochemical plant, phase I of Damavand Petrochemical Power Plant, Assaluyeh Glycol Ethylene in Morvarid Petrochemical Plant, Phase III of Pardis Petrochemical Plant, Polystyrene unit in Entekhab Petrochemical Plant, Phase I of Polystyrene unit at Kimia Plant, and Olefin unit of Ilam Petrochemical Plant.

Source: SHANA

Nine Iranian banks to join SWIFT on Monday: CBI governor

Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif said on Sunday that nine Iranian banks are to join the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

As declared prior to the visit to Italy, SWIFT can start operation on Sunday, he said adding that 'I would like to officially announce that SWIFT will be connected on Monday but it will require one or two days for the Iranian banks to install and run the system.' Nine Iranian banks which lacked SWIFT will join SWIFT on Monday but other Iranian banks which were not under sanctions continued operation after implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he said. There will be no obstacle in opening of letter of credits for Iranian banks, underlined the CBI governor.

Source: IRNA

French Banks Gear Up for Return

Credit Agricole, Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC), Société Générale are prepared to restore ties with Iran, Valiollah Seif, governor of the Central Bank of Iran said.

“Governor of Banque de France (Central Bank of France) expressed willingness to launch correspondent banking relations with the CBI,” ILNA quoted him as saying. Seif referred to Credit Agricole’s long presence in Iran and said “Cooperation with Credit Agricole is of high importance to us since the bank is familiar with Iranian markets.”

“CBI has cleared the way for Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC) and Société Générale to restart their relations with Iran,” Seif said.Credit Agricole, the second largest bank in France had to pay $800 million in fines last year to settle charges it broke US sanctions rules on Iran and other countries.CIC, founded in 1859, is a subsidiary of Credit Mutual, France’s largest bank while Société Générale is France’s third largest bank by total assets, seventh largest in Europe.

CBI also reached an agreement with Coface, France’s export credit agency, for settling Coface’s debts to Iran, Seif said without providing details.Pointing to Iran’s call to improve its credit rating, Seif said, “The Bern Union would decide about Iran’s credit rating following our discussions with SACE, Hermes and Coface.”

According to a CBI press release, Coface is now able to help and provide guarantees for Iran’s medium and long-term projects, in compliance with international rules. Coface is in charge of public export guarantees on behalf of the French government with 160,000 clients in 93 countries.

Source: Financial Tribune

10-Month Foreign Trade Exceeds $69b (without oil)

Customs House released figures of Iranian foreign trade over the past 10 months. According to the data, imports were 33.843 billion dollars, down by 22.32 percent in comparison with the preceding period last year. Non-oil exports were 35.613 billion dollars, down by 15.87 percent in comparison with the preceding period last year.

The main items of non-oil exports were including oil gases, hydrocarbons in gas form, liquid propane and oil tar and basic buyers of the products were China (19%), Iraq (17%), United Arab Emirates (14%), Indien (7%) and Afghanistan (7%). Germany is importing less than 1% of Iranian Non-oil-Products. The main items for imports are respectively corn for livestock amounted to 3.40 percent of total import values, wheat by 2.9 percent, Soyabeans by 1.48 percent, rice by 1.71 percent and spare parts for car assembling 1.61 percent. Main exporting countries to Iran were China (accounting for 25% of Iran’s total imports), the UAE (19%), South Korea (9%), Turkey (7%) and Switzerland (6%). After India (6%) Germany holds place 7 with 4% of the Iranian imports.

Source: Marin Consult

Inflation stands at 13.2 percent in January

The Statistics Bureau of the Central Bank of Iran declared that inflation for price of consumer goods and services in a period January 2014 to January 2015 stood at 13.2 percent compared to the preceding period. The CBI said that the index price of consumer goods and services in Iranian urban regions was 233 in January 2015, which showed a growth of 0.4 percent compared to the figure in the previous month. The figure in the month showed 9.6 percent increase compared to that of corresponding month last year.

Source: Marin Consult

Foreign Debt Negligible

Iran's total foreign debt declined from $20 billion in 2011 to $5 billion in 2014, the deputy economy minister for banking, insurance and state-owned companies, Hussein Qazavi said.

“The country has been repaying its foreign debts. Short-term debts amounted to $500 million during the first half of the year ending Sep. 22 down from $10 billion in 2011," he was quoted as saying by ISNA on Tuesday.

Iran is capable of attracting $32billion-$42 billion in financing each year, and repay at least $8-10 billion per annum without adding extra burden on the economy, he said. Financial brokerage is necessary for promoting sustainable development, he said. “However, such methods would help if and when they manage to provide funds to businesses when they need it.”He also underscored the need for modern financial tools, in line with technological innovation, to help revive the economy and create the much-needed "business-friendly atmosphere." Restrictions for attracting foreign financial resources in recent years are the main obstacles to growth, he added. Source: Financial Tribune

Iran Container Ships Set for Europe Sailings After Five Years

Iran’s biggest shipping line hopes to start calling again at European ports, with plans for a bi-weekly service connecting India, Iran and Europe as early as next month, according to people familiar with the matter.

The service would be the first time in five years that ships from the company, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, would tie up at European ports. The plan comes just two weeks after the lifting of broad economic sanctions against Iran, part of an international deal to curtail Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Since sanctions have lifted, Iranian officials have announced a host of deals with European companies, including an agreement earlier this week to buy Airbus Group SE jetliners. Also this week, Total SA agreed to start buying Iranian crude again.

Iran borders the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to the south and the Caspian Sea to the north. It has long been a power in the global shipping industry. The country’s tanker-ship operator boasts the world’s largest tanker fleet by capacity. IRISL is a much smaller player in the global container-shipping industry.

IRISL or one of its subsidiaries plans to start a regular service shipping 6,000 containers along a route that would include stops at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf, Nhava Sheva in India, Istanbul, and European ports, including Felixstowe, U.K, Genoa, Italy, and Le Havre, France, according to one person familiar with the plans. More ports could be added later.

Source: The Wall Street Journal