Technical glitches at SABIC could tighten polyethylene supply in Middle East

31-Jul-08

Technical glitches at SABIC's 650,000 tpa Petrokemya No. 1 cracker at Al Jubail has led to a dearth of ethylene feedstock caused, shuttering two of its polyethylene lines and one of its crackers at Al-Jubail. Though the duration of the shutdown is undisclosed, it is sure to impinge on PE supply and deliveries for August. The PE lines that are currently offline include a 375,000 tpa LLDPE line operated by Sharq and a 350,000 tpa HDPE/LLDPE line run by subsidiary Petrokemya. Though these shutdowns will exert pressures on the PE supply scenario in the Middle East, it is likely that ethylene markets will continue unabated.