Iran's annual petrochemical output is expected to reach 47 million metric tonnes by mid-March 2016, a senior petrochemical industry official was quoted as saying in a report.

Ethane recovered from phases 15 and 16 of the supergiant South Pars Gas Field will be supplied to petrochemical plants boosting their output dramatically, said Ali-Mohammad Bosaqzadeh, director of production control at National Petrochemical Company (NPC) in an Iran Daily report, citing Shana.

The phases currently supply 10 tonnes per hour of ethane to plants for constant processing, he added.

Bosaqzadeh noted that the amount is estimated to reach 70 tonnes per hour by March 20, 2016.

He said that the ethane supplies from phases 17 and 18 will come online during December.

Several petrochemical plants are being overhauled and will be fully operational in the next few weeks, added the report.