Mohsen Majidi said the plant's butane unit became operational two months earlier and it waiting to receive its feedstock to come on-stream.

He said the polyethylene production unit of the plant is 97% complete and can presently operate at an annual capacity of 120,000 tons.

The unit is expected to come online by late September, he said.

Majidi said 70 to 80% of the plant's output will be exported to destinations overseas.

The plant needs 300,000 tons of ethylene for production of polyethylene annually.

The second phase of West Ethylene Pipeline is close to coming on-stream, project manager at National Petrochemical Company said in April.

Marzieh Shah-Daei said the pipeline is expected to deliver ethylene to Mahabad Petrochemical Plant as feedstock.

She said that the pipeline would provide feedstock to all petrochemical plants on its way.

The second phase of the pipeline is 585 kilometers, stretching from Kermanshah to Mahabad.

West Ethylene Pipeline has the capacity to carry 3.5 million tons of ethylene.