Sharq Ethylene Glycol Unit To Shut For Maintenance, Repairs
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) said on 8 August that it plans to shut down one of the plants operated by its Eastern Petrochemical Company (Sharq) affiliate for maintenance and repairs. It will close part of the 700,000 tons/year monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit in question starting at the beginning of September and predicts it will be off line for about 10 weeks. SABIC said the move will not impact its customers, or have a negative impact on its operations. Sharq is a 50:50 joint venture between SABIC and SPDC, which is a Japanese consortium led by Mitsubishi Group. The Sharq petrochemical complex cracker has the capacity to process 1.3mn t/y of ethylene using ethane and naphtha feedstock.
Aside from ethylene and MEG, the complex produces tri- and di-ethylene glycol, propylene, aromatics (benzene, toluene and xylene isomers), linear low density polyethylene, and high density polyethylene. Sharq has been operating since 1985, but undertook a 2.8mn t/y expansion in 2005, when output of ethylene glycol, linear low and high density polyethylene, and propylene was hiked in a $3.64bn upgrade. This took the complex�s total ethylene glycol production to over 2mn t/y. The new units were originally expected to start up in the third quarter of 2008, but came on line in 2010. In 2006 Sharq secured $2.43bn of debt funding for its project. This included a $780mn commercial loan from 10 mandated lead arrangers, $480mn from Saudi Arabia�s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and $1.17bn from the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC - MEES, 22 May 2006).
Copyright MEES 2012.
