MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Arabia’s National Petrochemical Company (Petrochem) has cited its intention to turnaround its Saudi Polymers joint-venture plants for a scheduled 60-day maintenance in the fourth quarter of this year, the company said in its filing to the Saudi stock exchange Tadawul, reported TPS.
Saudi Polymers, which is 65% owned by Petrochem and 35% owned by Arabian Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, operates an ethane/propane-based steam cracker at Jubail Industrial City with the capacity to produce 1.22 million mt/year ethylene and 440,000 mt/year propylene.
In addition, the complex at Al Jubail houses a 1.1 million mt/year high density/linear low density polyethylene (HDPE/LLDPE) swing plant, 400,000 mt/year polypropylene (PP) unit, 100,000 mt/year each of general purpose polystyrene and high impact polystyrene (GPPS/HIPS) units and a 100,000 mt/year hexene-1 unit.
Petrochem said it was difficult at this stage to estimate the financial impact resulting from the shutdown, especially on its fourth quarter 2016 and Q1 2017 earnings, due to the uncertain pricing conditions.
As MRC wrote previously, in late 2012, Saudi Polymers Company started commercial. The integrated petrochemical complex includes world-class operating units that are capable of producing ethylene (1,220 kmta), propylene (440 kmta), polyethylene (1,100 kmta), polypropylene (400 kmta), polystyrene (200 kmta) and 1-hexene (100 kmta). In addition to direct sales to serve local Saudi demand, Saudi Polymers will manufacture products to serve growing world demand outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through its exclusive distributor, Gulf Polymers Distribution Company, utilizing Chevron Phillips Chemical's global marketing network.
MRC