KUWAIT—Equate Group, the Kuwaiti petrochemicals producer, is taking an unplanned shutdown of its ethylene unit 2 (EU2) in Kuwait because of a technical issue, according to a July 10 statement.
The EU2 has a production capacity of 850,000 metric tons per years and is owned by Kuwait Olefins Co.
The output of other units, such as ethylene glycol and polyethylene in Kuwait, also was impacted by the unit's closure.
"We are currently considering all the details, and our preliminary assessment suggests resuming normal operations in about two weeks," Mohammad Husain, Equate Group president and CEO, said in a statement. "Our priorities are simple, which are the safety of everyone and resuming operations at the earliest (time)."
Equate Group is a producer of petrochemicals and claims to be the world's second largest producer of EG.
The group has industrial complexes in Kuwait, North America and Europe and produces more than 5 million tons of ethylene, EG, PE and PET annually.
The Kuwaiti group markets the products throughout Asia, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The group includes Equate Petrochemical Co., its subsidiaries and Kuwait Olefins Co. The group's shareholders include Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC), Dow Chemical Co., Boubyan Petrochemical Co. and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co.