Saudi Kayan To Shut Several Units For Maintenance

Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co plans to shut several units at its petrochemicals complex in Jubail for scheduled maintenance in February and October, it said on Sunday.

The company, an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), will shut its olefins plant from Feb. 1 for almost five weeks, it said.

Production rates at some plants that depend on olefins will be cut but the impact will be offset by Kayan’s inventories and other affiliates of SABIC, it said, predicting the financial impact would be SAR62 million ($16.5 million), which would be reflected in first-quarter earnings.

In addition, an ethylene gylcol and ethylene oxide plant will be shut from Oct. 1 for 60 days for maintenance and repairs.

Kayan will shut plants that use ethylene glycol and ethylene oxide; a polycarbonate plant will stop for 75 days, an amines plant for 65 days, and an ethoxylate plant for 61 days. All will undergo maintenance during that period.

The company said it would incur losses of SAR340 million from those shutdowns, which would be reflected in fourth-quarter earnings.