Market and product

EQUATE Petrochemical is running its monoethylene glycol (MEG) plants in Kuwait at reduced capacity due to shortage of feedstock, a source privy to the operations said on Tuesday.

“I would say in the low-80s[%],” MEGlobal International president Ramesh Ramachandran told ICIS on the sidelines of the International Petrochemical Conference (IPC), when asked about the run rates of Kuwait MEG plants.

Dubai-based MEGlobal markets the MEG output of EQUATE Petrochemical.

“It’s a regular maintenance issue, but the maintenance is on the gas grid, but the feedstock is there. The units that process the gas are going through scheduled maintenance,” he said.

“So until that maintenance is completed, we are not getting the usual amount of feedstock that we get."

EQUATE has two MEG plants in Shuaiba – a 550,000 tonne/year unit and a 600,000 tonne/year unit – according to ICIS data.

The plants are expected to be back to regular production once the maintenance at the gas grid is sorted out “in the next month or so”, Ramachandran said.

Hosted by the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the IPC continues through Tuesday.