Kuwait Equate to start up cracker by end-Nov

04 November 2008 21:36  [Source: ICIS news]

DUBAI (ICIS news)--Equate Petrochemical plans to start commercial production at its Olefins II cracker by the end of November and expand its polyethylene (PE) capacity at its facility in Shuaiba, Kuwait, in the first quarter of 2009, the CEO said on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Middle East Petrochemical Conference.

"The cracker is in the process of being commissioned. There are no feedstock issues at present, as gas supply is quite good," said Hamad Al-Terkait, CEO.

Equate will be increasing the capacity of its existing 600,000 tonne/year high density PE (HDPE)/linear low density PE (LLDPE) swing plant by 50%. The capacity of the new ethane cracker will be 850,000 tonnes/year.

Equate is a joint venture that includes Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Co (PIC) and Dow Chemical, with each owning a 42.5% stake. The remaining stake is held by local investors.

The two-day conference, organised by ICIS and Nexant, will end on Wednesday.

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Author: Prema Viswanathan
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