KUWAIT, June 1 (KUNA) -- Qurain Petrochemicals Industries Company (QPIC) announced on tuesday the establishment of United Petrochemical Company (UPC). UPC is a joint venture between Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company which holds 90 percent of the company and United Industries Company, holding the remainder.
UPC has received all required licenses from the Public Authority for Industry for the purpose of establishing PTA and PET plants in Kuwait. The project will become Kuwait's first PTA/PET production plant.
PTA is used in the production of such products such as film, fiber, with the majority of the production used for PET production. The production of PET is then mainly used in the making of plastic water bottles and food packaging. Annual global consumption of PTA is expected to reach 60 million tons by 2015, from 38 million tonnes in 2008. The world-scale petrochemical plants are estimated to cost USD 700 million and will utilize Paraxylene (PX) produced by the Kuwait Aromatics Company, in which Qurain owns 20 percent. The Kuwait Paraxylene plant began production in December 2009 and produces 820,000 ton of Paraxylene annually.
"The PTA/PET project is part of QPIC's long term strategy focused on developing downstream petrochemical projects in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and MENA regions and utilizing its assets to enhance returns to shareholders" concluded Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al Mubarak Al Sabah, the QPIC Board Chairman. - Kuna