Saudi Polymers ships first on-spec Al-Jubail HDPE to Asia in Sept

23 August 2012 09:23  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Saudi Polymers will start shipments to Asia of on-spec high density polyethylene (HDPE) film and blow moulding grades from its new facilities in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia, next month, the company’s buyers said on Thursday.

Company officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the issue.

“We will receive the first shipment of HDPE film from this September,” a southeast Asia-based processor said, adding that it received off-spec material early this month.

“Saudi Polymers will be producing mainly HDPE blow moulding grades first,” a buyer based in south Asia said.

The company will first produce only medium molecular weight HDPE blow moulding grade, the buyer said.

Saudi Polymers has a cracker that can produce 1.165m tonnes/year of ethylene; two 550,000 tonne/year HDPE lines; a 400,000 tonne/year of polypropylene (PP) plant; a 200,000 tonne/year of polystyrene (PS) unit, and; a 100,000 tonne/year 1-hexene plant at the site in Al- Jubail.

“We are not approached by [Saudi P+olymers] yet with regards to their new PP materials,” a major converter in the Middle East said.

Off-spec PS material from Saudi Polymers was made available to Asia since July, market players said.

Saudi Polymers is 65%-owned by Saudi Arabia's National Petrochemical (Petrochem), with the remaining  35% held by Chevron Phillips Petrochemical (ACP) – a subsidiary of Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem).

Its Al-Jubail petrochemical complex was initially planned to come on stream in the first quarter of this year but mechanical problems at the cracker prevented the downstream plants to start up on schedule, according to market sources.

Additional reporting by Clive Ong

By: Ong Sheau Ling
+65 6780 4359

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