Saudi Ethylene and Polyethylene Company starts up new petrochemical complex in S. Arabia

30-Apr-09

Saudi Ethylene and Polyethylene Company (SEPC) has successfully started up its Petrochemical Complex in Al-Jubail Industrial City, located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. SEPC, formed in 2006, is a joint venture owned by LyondellBasell Industries (25%) and Tasnee and Sahara Petrochemical Company (75%). The complex includes: - -- 400 KT per year of high density, mulitmodal polyethylene based on LyondellBasell's latest-generation Hostalen ACP process -- 400K KT per year of low density polyethylene based on LyondellBasell's Lupotech T technology -- 1000 KT per year of ethylene -- 285 KT per year of propylene As per a statement by LyondellBasell, the two polyethylene plants are the largest of their kind in the world. The Hostalen ACP unit for multimodal HDPE addresses customer needs that are beyond the limits of standard bi-modal HDPE, producing resins with an advanced toughness/stiffness balance, superior impact resistance, higher stress crack resistance and significantly improved processing advantages. The LDPE plant is based on the leading high-pressure tubular reactor process, Lupotech T. The company says it offers attractive economics and world-scale capabilities, and has become the benchmark in LDPE manufacturing by providing the lowest operating costs currently in the market, while producing high-performance resins.