Kuwaiti Group Announces Unplanned Shutdown of Ethylene Unit

Kuwaiti petrochemicals producer, the Equate Group, is taking an unplanned shutdown of its ethylene unit 2 (EU2) in Kuwait due to a technical issue, it was announced July 10.

The EU2 has a production capacity of 850,000 metric tons per years (ktpa) and is owned by The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC), announced parent company the Equate Group in a statement.

The output of other units, such as ethylene glycol (EG) and polyethylene (PE) in Kuwait, was also impacted by this development.

“We are currently considering all the details, and our preliminary assessment suggests resuming normal operations in about two weeks. Our priorities are simple, which are the safety of everyone and resuming operations at the earliest,” said Equate Group President and CEO Mohammad Husain.

The Equate Group is a producer of petrochemicals and claims to be the world’s second largest producer of EG.

The group has industrial complexes in Kuwait, North America and Europe and produces over 5 million tonnes of ethylene, EG, PE and PET annually.

The Kuwaiti group markets the products throughout Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The group includes Equate Petrochemical Company, its subsidiaries and The Kuwait Olefins Company.

The group’s shareholders include Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), Dow Chemical Co., Boubyan Petrochemical Company and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company.