A senior petrochemical official said Iran will launch a section of Damavand Petrochemical Plant by the end of the current Iranian calendar year to March 21 2016.
Director of Projects at National Petrochemical Company (NPC) Marziyeh Shah-Daei said 19 major petrochemical projects are expected to become operational by the end of the first term of the Rouhani administration in 2017.
She said seven of the projects as long as a section of the Damavand Petrochemical Plant will be inaugurated by March 21 2016.
Shah-Daei added that 60 to 67 projects are being constructed in Iran for the time being of which 16 projects have made over 87% progress and are highly prioritized by NPC for completion.
NPC also considers projects with at least 50% progress as the second priority.
Iranian petrochemical plants process 44.5 million tons of petrochemicals annually which is less than their nameplate capacity due to feedstock shortages.
Iran has defined dozens major petrochemical projects which are expected to double the country's production capacity to 120 mt/y by 2025.
"The projects are estimated to cost $40bn for their completion," she added.
Later on, Shah-Daei, who is also a member of NPC's board of directors, said 36 new projects have been defined in the country's petrochemical hubs which will add another 60mt/y to the country's annual output for which 32 billion dollars are needed to be invested.
Iran has 67 half-finished petrochemical projects up for grabs with 20 to 90% physical progress which are planned to come on-stream based on a schedule.