EQUATE Petrochemical Company is a stand-alone, state-of-the-art petrochemical complex located in Kuwait.

Dedicated to producing and supplying ethylene derivatives of the highest quality to markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe, EQUATE serves the rapidly-expanding global demand for value-added plastics and chemicals.
EQUATE was established in 1995 as a joint venture between government-owned Petrochemical Industries Company and Union Carbide Corporation, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company. Each held 45 per cent ownership with the additional 10 per cent held by Boubyan Petrochemical Company, a publicly traded company on the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Since 2005, a new ownership structure introduces a fourth partner into the picture, with PIC and Dow owning 42.5% each, Boubyan Petrochemical Company holding 9%, with the remaining 6% held by Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company, a Kuwaiti private-sector shareholding company established in 2004.
Due to the vast availability of natural resources in Kuwait, coupled with some of the most dedicated and experienced people in the business, EQUATE is advantageously positioned as the preferred, low-cost and dependable supplier of the products it makes. Additionally, the company focuses intensively on delivering the highest standards of customer service in all aspects of its business.
EQUATE produces polyethylene and ethylene glycol using Union Carbide's UNIPOL II and Meteor process technologies respectively, which are the leading technology standards in the world over. With more than 1000 reactor-years of successfully proven operations, these reactors are considered the safest and most environmentally-sound processes available.
The petrochemical complex itself, completed in 1997, is located in the Shuaiba Industrial Area which offers a variety of advantages. These include a world-scale plant infrastructure, reliable and low-cost supplies of electricity and cooling water, well-established maintenance facilities and a dedicated industrial port with the capacity to meet present and future shipping demands.
The company's ethane cracker produces 850,000 tonnes of ethylene annually to supply the needs of the 500,000 tonne per annum polyethylene plant and an ethylene glycol facility which produces 500,000 tonnes a year. EQUATE also maintains and operates a polypropylene facility for PIC, which utilizes a portion of this ethylene.
EQUATE is marketing its polyethylene products through the EQUATE Marketing Company (EMC) and its ethylene glycol products through MEGlobal to Asia, Europe, the Middle East and other selected areas.
The value of EQUATE extends well beyond the petrochemical complex. It also addresses Kuwait's desire to diversify the economy from a purely oil-based one. In addition to direct economic returns, the country benefits from new technology, research and development in the petrochemical field, and valuable experience in marketing, finance and management.
The EQUATE joint venture has also created more job and training opportunities and brought a new standard of business into the region.
Thanks to the UNIPOL Process, today's most cost-effective and versatile technology for the manufacture of polyethylene, EQUATE can fill its customers' application needs -- and their customers' performance requirements for linear low-density to high-density polyethylene. UNIPOL II technology, to be employed in the new EQUATE facility, advances these capabilities still further to produce resins that combine the strength of LLDPE with the easy process capability of conventional low-density polyethylene. Production of bimodel high molecular weight, high-density polyethylene film resins is an additional capability.
The largest-volume, most frequently-used plastic in the world, polyethylene goes into an amazing range of extruded, blow- and injection-molded products: trash and merchandise bags; packaging film; containers; crates; toys, agricultural films; flexible hose and tubing; insulation and jacketing for telecommunications and power cable; storage tanks; pipe; geomembranes/pond liners; and more.

Performance
EQUATE Petrochemical Company has reported a number of significant achievements for the fifth consecutive year, with 2004 being a truly golden year. Overall, company results were better than all previous years and exceeded 95 per cent of goals set.
The net profit for the company in 2004 was $620.5 million. This was an earnings record for the company since its start up in 1997 and represented 126 per cent more than earnings reported during the previous year. As a result, the general assembly of EQUATE approved a dividend distribution to the shareholders after allocating the required reserves.
EQUATE's goals for environment, health and safety are very stringent as the company aims to be the safest work place in Kuwait. Similar to the past year, EQUATE met this target and crossed 5 million continuous safe work hours without any lost workday cases. This record continues clear into the present year and on March 16, 2005, the company crossed the 6 million safe work hours mark. The foundation of this success is the strict application of several processes to enhance safety communication and awareness to follow safe behaviors while recognizing and mitigating risks. These processes include BBP (Behaviour-Based Process), pre-start work analysis card, access control system and electronic work permit, Public Addressing System, ESAT safety awareness flash messages, and many others.
Already ISO 9001:2000 certified, EQUATE received the ISO 14001 certification in 2004,  which is noteworthy for a big petrochemical complex to achieve in such a short span of operations.
EQUATE's business teams have taken up more responsibility to drive for excellence in business results. Against much improved product prices in 2004 for all petrochemical products, EQUATE has met its customer's expectations in timely supply, quality of product, and uniqueness in service. Discipline in execution, from order entry to delivery and collection, has allowed EQUATE to operate and function without disruption.
In line with EQUATE's vision, 2004 also marked a year of significant management initiatives for enhancing people capabilities and preparing them for accepting more responsibilities as EQUATE is prepared for major expansion in the coming years. Nationals in the workforce has increased to 54.1 per cent from previous year's 51.7 per cent, which is a record achievement in the private sector in Kuwait. EQUATE has been duly recognized and rewarded by the Ministry of Social Affairs for this accomplishment. This program exemplifies EQUATE's efforts in adding value to society by providing opportunities to qualified Kuwaitis.EQUATE's shareholders have taken strong steps forward towards strengthening their strategic alliance and entering into new joint ventures.
EQUATE will expand production by increasing the capacity and volumes which will bring more growth for the company. EQUATE has signed manufacturing, operations and maintenance contracts for all the new projects that are associated with the Olefins II expansion, including Aromatics and Styrene. EQUATE will be the "single operator" for five petrochemical projects, including the existing Polypropylene and current operations.