Petro Rabigh restarts 700,000 tpa PP plant, to slash export cargoes this month

03-Sep-10

Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co (Petro Rabigh) has restarted its 700,000 tpa polypropylene (PP) plant in Rabigh, taken off line in early August because of a shortage of feedstock propylene, due to an outage at its’ fluid catalytic cracker (FCC). The Saudi Arabian has slashed export cargoes in September to build inventory, slashing allocations for the month by 60-70%, as per ICIS. Only key customers are being supplied, as the company has very limited stocks at present. Currently, the company is ramping up operating rates at the plant and expects to achieve full output by the end of the week. Exports of PP are expected to resume in October.