PET Chips Export Harming Carpet Industry

The export of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) chips continues to be the biggest problem for Iran’s PET polyester carpets, the chairman of Sadaf Termeh Fiber’s board of directors said. “The Chinese buy PET chips from Iranian market and shortage of supply ensues,” Behnam Ebrahimi also told Trend News Agency. “Things get better once in a while, but a few months later it starts all over again and we are unable to find the material at the price we want, as it gets exported.” The production of carpets from PET chips is a green industry. PET chips are bottles and similar packaging objects that are ground and reused to make carpets and some other products. The export of PET chips deals a harsh blow to the country’s labor market as well, according to Ebrahimi, whose holding has created 300 jobs directly and 1,200 more indirectly. Iran has a quality carpet industry, backed by an opulent petrochemical industry, thanks to its rich oil and gas reserves. Iranian carpet producers supply the markets of Europe, the CIS, the Middle East and India.