Middle East business information

Kuwait's Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) has started operations at a $2bn aromatics plant this week that is expected to reach full capacity by early December, Reuters has reported. The Kuwait Aromatics plant, which has a nameplate capacity of 830,000 tons per year (tpy) of paraxylene and nearly 400,000 tpy of benzene, can produce up to 1 million tpy of light naphtha, and is currently operating at 60%. PIC and Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) each have a 40% stake in the plant, with Qurain Petrochemical Industries holding a 20% share.