Rasoul Ashfarzadeh, director
of planning and development at PGPIC, said the projects have so far made
between 10 to 90% physical progress.
He said one of the major
projects under construction by PGPIC is Bidboland Petrochemical Plant in the southwestern city of Behbahan which
has made 65% progress so far.
Moreover, the holding is building
another project in Gachsaran, western Iran, which has made 45% physical
progress, the official added.
He said there are other projects
in other parts of the country like in Ilam (west), Assalouyeh (south), Lordegan
(west) and Dehdasht (west).
The projects in Bidboland,
Ilam and Lordegan will complete during the next Iranian calendar year beginning
on March 21, he added.
Once fully operational, each
of the projects can generate from 300 to 600 direct jobs, he noted.
PGPIC, whose production
capacity is 22 million tons a year, has been facing feedstock shortages in
recent years.
Subsidiaries of this company
are exporting $8 billion to $9 billion of petrochemicals every year.
In 2013, PGPIC was recognized
as the second largest producer of petrochemicals in the Middle East.
Iran has significantly
expanded the range and volume of its petrochemical products over the past few
years. The country has become the second largest producer and exporter of
petrochemicals in the Middle East after Saudi Arabia.
Iran currently produces 60
million tons of petrochemicals a year. This capacity will increase by 8.5 million
tons by March 2017 when a number of new projects become operational.