MNA � The West Ethylene Pipeline, which has been hit by the recent heavy flooding and ensuing landslides in western Iran, is to resume delivery of feedstock to petrochemical plants soon, a senior petrochemical official said.

Ghodratollah Farajpour, the director of production control at the National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said efforts are being exerted for repairing the pipeline and the major line will resume operation in the near future.

�Undoubtedly, all the means have been mobilized to repair the pipeline as soon as possible,� Farajpour said.

The West Ethylene Pipeline is a major project that runs from the port city of Asalouyeh on the Persian Gulf coast to West Azerbaijan province in the northwest, supplying ethylene as feedstock to several petrochemical complexes along the way.

Ethylene is the building block for a vast range of chemicals, from plastics to antifreeze solutions and solvents, and is also used in the agriculture sector for ripening fruits.

Most of Iran�s petrochemical facilities are concentrated in the port cities of Asalouyeh and Mahshahr by the Persian Gulf coast; however, in the last few decades, new petrochemical plants have come on stream in Iran, particularly across the country�s western belt, as part of efforts to boost local economies.

MNA/SHANA