Press TV - Iran exported nearly $1.4 billion worth of plastic products in the year ending in March 2019, according to the country’s ministry of industries (MIMT).

Mehdi Sadeghi Niaraki, a senior MIMT official, said on Monday that nearly 590,000 tons of plastic products, including bottles and various types of containers, had been exported in the last Persian calendar year with Iran’s neighboring countries being the main destination.

Niaraki said more export of finished plastic products would mean more added value for Iran, a leading producer and exporter of petrochemicals in the world.

He said Iran aims to create a balance between its growing export of petchem products, which is currently standing at around $12 billion a year, and the trade for manufactured goods that mainly rely on refined products derived from oil.

Iran has tried to expand the downstream section of its oil and gas industry since the United States imposed a series of inclusive bans on the country’s direct sale of crude in November 2018.

The government hopes it could generate around $25 billion in revenues from the petrochemical sector by 2021.