Iran’s Laleh to start up Bandar LDPE project

10 October 2007 09:20  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Laleh Petrochemical was expected to start up its 300,000 tonnes/year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) project at Bandar Imam, Iran, in late November or early December, a year later than previously scheduled, a source close to the project said on Wednesday.

 

The main reason for the latest delay was a problem relating to its compressor, the source said.

 

“We expect the problem to be resolved in the next two months,” he added.

 

The start-up is expected to slightly ease the current tightness in LDPE markets across all regions, traders said.

 

Laleh is expected to source its ethylene feedstock from Marun Petrochemical's 1.1m tonnes/year cracker, also located at Bandar Imam, which restarted in late September after a week-long shutdown for repairs.

 

Laleh, a joint venture between National Petrochemical Co, Saudi Basic Industries Corp Europe (SABIC) and Poushineh, was originally expected to go on stream in 2005.

 

The start up date was later postponed to the first-quarter of 2006, and then to late 2006 due to various factors, including slow progress in the construction of the cracker and utilities and delays in the shipment of equipment.

 

The project's EPC work has been undertaken by Italy's Lurgi and Iran's Sazeh. The technology licensing and basic engineering is being done by Sabtec.

By: Prema Viswanathan
+65 6780 4359

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