Feedstock for the new facility, which will have capacity of about 300,000 tonnes a year (t/y), is set to be provided from one of Iran's refineries. 'The Ministry will select the refinery that is going to provide the residue fuel,' an Iralco official said on 15 October. 'The plant will then be built close to that refinery.'

The official says that the need to process low-sulphur residue fuel as feedstock for the petroleum coke calcining plant limits the choice of refineries or may require their technical upgrading as most refineries process high-sulphur oil, which is more prevalent in Iran.

International companies interested to provide technology for the project include Canadian, Chinese, German, French and Russian firms.

French banks feature high among international financial institutions interested in providing half of the project's financing, with the remainder to be arranged locally by Iralco.