Interview-with-Azarbam-company

Interview with Azarbam company

The reporter of the World of Petroleum and Bitumen Journal had an interview with Mr. Fatahzadeh, CEO of Azarbam company, on the latest news and events of the Iranian bitumen market, as follows:

1- First, please explain about the history, products and target markets of Azarbam company?

In refineries producing light products such as gas, gasoline, kerosene, jet fuel, and diesel, heavy materials deposit and remain in the refining towers. In order to continue the production, these materials have to be discharged from the refining towers. The raw material for bitumen production, i.e., vacuum baton, is extracted from this residue. Since 1982, Azarbam company has been producing bitumen 85/25 and 90/15 for various uses, and in 2006, it established a refinery for the production of bitumen from vacuum baton by obtaining the necessary permits, and then this company attempted to continuously increase the quality and variety of its products by deploying the world’s latest technologies and employing domestic specialists and experts. Today, the company produces standard products acceptable by international organizations, which include various types of Performance Grade (PG) bitumen according to the country’s climate, emulsion bitumen, penetration grade bitumen, soluble bitumen and polymer bitumen.

Currently, this company has become one of the largest bitumen suppliers of the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, Housing Foundation, Organization for Development, Renovation and Equipping Schools, Construction Mobilization Organization, and Municipalities and Village Administrations Organization of the country, and the products of this company are also exported to foreign markets.

2- What problems and challenges does Azarbam company encounter in this industry as a bitumen producer? and what is the solution to these problems?

Like many manufacturing and exporting companies, this company has been troubled by changing laws and the instability of raw material prices, which are mostly applied by government companies, and it is hoped that most of the problems of manufacturing factories will be solved by tackling the foregoing issues.

3- Azarbam company is more considered in terms of the quality of its products than the diversity of its products. What is your opinion in this regard?

The management and experts of Azarbam company believe that quality is not an accidental goal, but customer satisfaction is achieved by providing high quality products at competitive prices. Therefore, in order to achieve this goal, this company has made the most investment in laboratory equipment, equipping one of the most specialized bitumen laboratories in the Middle East, controlling the production process and improving product quality. For many years, this company has been selected as the provincial and national exemplary unit and quality manager by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research. Of course, the company fully meets the needs of domestic and foreign customers in terms of product variety.

4- Do you think that the Iranian Bitumen Association has been able or can solve the major problems and obstacles of bitumen producers in Iran?

Iran’s bitumen production units have formed the Iranian Bitumen Association to solve their trade problems. Despite the efforts of the association to solve the foregoing problems, it has not yet been able to overcome all the problems.

5- How do you evaluate the potential of the domestic market compared to the bitumen produced in the country? Then, do you consider the supply and demand of this product sufficient?

The bitumen production capacity in private sector units is more than the domestic needs of the country. If the country’s policy makers do not find a solution for the presence of Iranian bitumen and bitumen production units, the future of this industry and the sustainable employment of those units will face many problems.

6- What is your opinion about the philosophy of bartering bitumen? and please explain whether this process and the government’s support process is in the interest of bitumen production companies.

In this especial case, before the interests of bitumen production units, the national interests of the whole country in completing the road construction projects of the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation, Municipalities and Village Administrations Organization of the country, Organization for Development, Renovation and Equipping Schools, Construction Mobilization Organization, and Ministry of Roads and Urban Development are of priority. Therefore, since the government does not have cash to buy the raw materials of bitumen (vacuum baton) due to economic problems, bartering bitumen will lead to the activation of national projects, maintenance of stable employment and prosperity of production in bitumen production units.

7- What is your opinion about Iran’s export of bitumen and petroleum derivatives? Will this downward trend in exports continue?

In my opinion, under the conditions of cruel sanctions imposed by the US and Western countries on the sale of Iranian petroleum, the best way to bring foreign currency to the country is the government’s assistance in exporting bitumen and petroleum derivatives by the private sector. If the export barriers are removed from the private sector’s exporting units, which is not a difficult or insurmountable task, the export of bitumen and petroleum derivatives in Iran, especially East Azerbaijan and Northwest of the country, will gain more currency than the export of dry fruits, sweets and chocolate. Therefore, I believe if there is necessary will and sufficient expertise in solving export problems in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ministries related to export, this problem can be solved easily.

8- Due to Iran’s sanctions, Iraq has been able to take a significant amount of Iran’s bitumen export market. What is your opinion about the quality of Iraqi bitumen market?

The quality of Iraqi bitumen is very low compared to the quality of Iranian bitumen, but Iraqi bitumen has a price advantage over Iranian bitumen. In this regard, especially the performance of the country’s officials helps Iraqi bitumen to maintain its price advantage. If the cost of transit or ton-kilometer of bitumen transport through Iran’s roads using subsidized Iranian fuel is equal to international tariffs, Iraqi bitumen is not much of a competitor to Iran’s bitumen product, neither in terms of quality nor in terms of price advantage. However, the implementation of ill-considered policies has caused Iraqi bitumen to take advantage of all the available facilities and has brought Iran’s bitumen market to stagnation.

In the end, we are grateful to the Word of Petroleum and Bitumen Journal for the reflection of the country’s bitumen industry problems.