МОSCOW (MRC) -- EQUATE Petrochemical Company, Kuwait’s first international joint-venture in this industry, announced realizing a net profit of USD 739 million for the fiscal year ending 31 December 2015, in comparison to USD 1.04 billion achieved in 2014, said the company on its site.
EQUATE President & CEO Mohammad Husain said, "EQUATE’s human capital exemplified being ‘Partners in Success’ throughout all challenges in 2015. Their sustainability-based innovative approach and strategic outlook served the benefits of all stakeholders."
Husain noted, "We achieved excellent results in industrial operations, production, maintenance, as well as overall reliability in our human capital, processes and equipment. In addition, EQUATE achieved the objective of going global by acquiring MEGlobal, an international petrochemical company with global presence and growth opportunities."
Husain explained, "Other highlights include EQUATE achieving a total sales revenue exceeding USD 2.3 billion, and strengthening its presence in several markets by enforcing its customer-base, both locally and globally. EQUATE has contributed to the growth of the local plastics industry by over 400% from 1998 to 2015, and has supported Kuwaiti plastic converters to launch export operations of their products to several countries around the world. Additionally, our 2014 Sustainability Report has set precedence in Kuwait by completing Global Reporting Initiative’s Materiality Disclosures Service regarding the feedback of EQUATE’s stakeholders on its sustainability efforts and other applicable items."
Husain added, "During 2015, the global economy witnessed a number of serious challenges due to the drop of energy prices. Such a decrease impacted several business sectors, including the petrochemical industry. Petrochemical markets throughout the world, including Kuwait, went through serious fluctuations due to oil prices falling below USD 30 for an average of less than USD 50 throughout 2015. Our per-ton budget forecast for our products was an average of nearly USD 960, yet the actual global market price averaged at about USD 870."
As MRC reported earlier, EQUATE Petrochemical Co is in talks with banks to refinance a $6 billion bridge loan that it secured last year and was partly used to fund the acquisition of petrochemical company MEGlobal.
Commencing production in 1997, EQUATE is currently the owner and single-operator of several fully integrated world-class petrochemical units, within the Greater EQUATE joint-venture, that annually produce over 5 million tons of the highest quality grades of Ethylene, Polyethylene (PE), Ethylene Glycol (EG), Polypropylene (PP), Styrene Monomer (SM), Paraxylene (PX), Heavy Aromatics (HA) and Benzene (BZ). The products are marketed throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe. Greater EQUATE includes EQUATE, The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company (KPPC) and The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC) under one fully integrated operational umbrella at Kuwait’s Shuaiba Industrial Area.
MRC