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Sunday, Apr 09, 2017
Abu Dhabi: Kuwait’s Equate is constructing a petrochemical plant in the US with an investment of $1.7 billion (Dh6.2 billion), the chief executive officer of the company said in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The production capacity of the plant, which is expected to be ready in the second half of 2019, is 750,000 tonnes, Mohammad Husain said.
“The plant is coming up along the Gulf coast in the US. It’s an opportunity for us to expand in the US and also the availability of shale gas makes it competitive,” he said speaking to Gulf News at a conference organised by Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association.
Kuwait-based Equate is a joint venture involving Petrochemical Industries Company and the Dow Chemicals.
The company produced more than five million tonnes of petrochemicals last year and another 250,000 tonnes is expected to be added to the production capacity in 2017.
“We will look at increasing the capacity further in coordination with our shareholders,” he said.
“Asia is a major market and most of our exports are in that direction. We also export to Europe, Africa and the United States. More than 90 per cent of our production is exported.”
The company recently did a sukuk and raised $500 million, he said.
“It [the money raised from sukuk] was used for refinancing and to build our portfolio. The company has no further sukuk plans this year.”
Company results
On the outlook for the petrochemicals industry, he said it is going to be volatile in the short-term but is expected to stabilise beyond 2019.
The company announced $679 million in total net profit for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016.
Speaking at the same event, Mohammad Al Mulla, chief executive officer and managing director of Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco), said the petrochemical industry in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) grew by five per cent last year reaching a production capacity of 27 million tonnes.
The governments in the region benefited from the growth of petrochemical industry in diversifying their portfolios and in creating more value added solutions, said Al Mulla.
By Fareed Rahman Senior Reporter
Gulf News 2017. All rights reserved.
