Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC, Kuwait; www.qpic-kw.com) has touted plans to build a new 800,000 t/y integrated PET plant in Al Jubail / Saudi Arabia. Explaining the rationale behind the project, QPIC chairman Sheikh Mubarak Abdullah Al Mubarak Al Sabah recently said that Al Jubail’s petrochemical plants produced enough paraxylene to allow QPIC to convert it into PTA and on to PET resin. To realise these aims, the Kuwaiti group has entered into an agreement with advisor IHS (Englewood, Colorado / USA; www.ihs.com) to plan and develop the relevant facility.

Al Jubail is considered to be one of the world’s largest petrochemical production sites, affording access to all petrochemical feedstocks. That makes it an ideal location for downstream units, the QPIC chairman said. QPIC said that while it will sell some of the 1m t/y of PTA to third parties, most of the output is to go towards its own production of PET resin, earmarked for the Saudi and other regional markets.

A holding for petrochemical and polymer activities, QPIC is greatly influenced by Kuwaiti state-owned Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC, Sabahiya / Kuwait; www.pic.com.kw). QPIC owns shares in Equate, The Kuwait Olefins Company (TKOC), Kuwait Aromatics Company (KARO), The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC) and Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company (KPPC), among others. According to its chairman, QPIC currently is on the lookout for more investment options in the Middle East, more specifically among the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.