Iran’s Laleh delays LDPE start-up to fourth quarter

15 April 2008 08:51  [Source: ICIS news]

By Prema Viswanathan

 

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Laleh Petrochemical has delayed the start-up of its new 300,000 tonne/year low-density polyethylene (LDPE) project in Bandar Imam, Iran, by 6-7 months, to October-November, due to a problem with its reactor, a source close to the project said on Tuesday.

 

“The new reactor will take several months to build, hence the delay,” the source said.

 

The unit was initially scheduled to come on stream this month.

 

The late start-up would aggravate concerns about the persistent tightness in LDPE supply in all regions, traders and end users said.

As a result of the delay, Marun Petrochemical, the ethylene feedstock provider for Laleh, would continue to export excess ethylene from its 1.1m tonnes/year cracker at Bandar Imam, the source added.

This is the latest in a series of delays for the Laleh plant. The start-up date was originally set for 2005, was later postponed to the first quarter of 2006, then to late 2007, and more recently, to April 2008 due to various factors, including slow progress in the shipment of equipment and of the construction of the cracker and other utilities.

Laleh is a joint venture of Iran’s National Petrochemical Co, Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) Europe and Iran's Poushineh Industrial Group.

 

For more on LDPE and C2 visit ICIS chemical intelligence

 

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Author: Prema Viswanathan
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