Methanol Deposit Certificates Offered for the First Time in the Country
Through the planning undertaken by Petrofarhang Holding and the Teachers Investment Fund, and the determined follow-up of Sabalan Petrochemical, methanol deposit certificates were offered for the first time in the country, creating a new avenue for financing this petrochemical company’s development project.
On Thursday, Mohammad Nazifi, CEO of the Iran Energy Exchange, addressing the ceremony marking the launch of methanol deposit certificates, outlined the exchange’s principal priorities and said: the development of the financial segment of the energy market is among the strategic priorities of the Iran Energy Exchange. We hope that as petrochemical and refining industries become more familiar with instruments such as deposit certificates, they will be able to adopt more diversified strategies in financing and sales. He added: methanol deposit certificates have been offered for the first time in the country, and we hope to see this instrument gather further momentum and attract growing interest from industries and investors.
Financing Sabalan Petrochemical’s Development Projects through the Energy Exchange
Continuing the ceremony, Reza Ganji, CEO of Sabalan Petrochemical, referring to the company’s innovative financing solutions and presenting details of the methanol offering on the Energy Exchange, said: two trillion tomans of the issued salam securities were allocated to the completion of Phase 2 of our complex, an initiative that made a substantial contribution to financing the company’s development projects. He stated: through the Energy Exchange, we offered our product on the export ring, which greatly helped strengthen the company’s working capital. We also operationalized commodity deposit certificates in the methanol sector for the first time; as methanol is an export-oriented product, the offering of deposit certificates converts our idle capital into active working capital.
Cost Management amid Energy Challenges
Referring to energy-supply challenges and the necessity of cost management, Ganji emphasized: our feedstock is natural gas, and in certain seasons we face gas restrictions and outages; we must therefore, through sound management, reduce the company’s product cost. Given that petrochemical feedstock prices are set by the government, we can, by attracting capital and raising finance from the capital market, invest in utilities and manage our costs. Underscoring the company’s social responsibilities, the CEO of Sabalan Petrochemical continued: our company is affiliated with Petrofarhang Holding and the Teachers Investment Fund, and we regard service to teachers as our principal duty. Under present conditions, in which banks face difficulties in providing finance, the use of the Energy Exchange’s innovative financial instruments is the best path for advancing the company’s objectives.
Details of Purchasing Methanol Deposit Certificates
Trading in this symbol is conducted on a continuous basis from 9:00 to 15:00, with the pre-opening session from 8:45 to 9:00. In the first stage, 2,500 tons of product (equivalent to 2.5 million certificates) will be offered. According to IRNA, commodity deposit certificates for gold, silver, zinc and certain agricultural products had previously been issued on the Commodity Exchange; this is the first time a commodity deposit certificate has been offered on the Energy Exchange and for methanol. At present, the market value of gold deposit certificates, which have a ten-year track record on the Commodity Exchange, has surpassed 700 trillion tomans. Iran is among the world’s largest methanol producers, and it is anticipated that physical delivery will also be possible if methanol deposit certificates are purchased in volumes exceeding 2,000 tons.