Kuwait-headquartered petrochemical producer Equate has temporarily shut down its EG-2 ethylene glycol unit in Shuaiba during the ongoing war between the US/Israel and Iran. The firm suspended output "to safeguard people and operations", the firm said today.
Equate operates two ethylene glycol units with capacities of 600,000 t/yr and 550,000 t/yr in Shuaiba, Kuwait, according to Argus data. The firm's notice related only to the EG-2 plant, implying that other units are running, although operations are likely to be affected.
Equate operates two steam crackers at the Shuaiba site with a combined 1.85m t/yr ethylene capacity, which supplies the EO/EG units and 890,000 t/yr LLDPE/HDPE capacity.
The firm also runs a 1.025mn t/yr ethylene glycol facility in Texas in the US, as well as two sites with a combined capacity of 1.35mn t/yr of ethylene glycol in Canada's Alberta through its subsidiary MEGlobal.
Exports of ethylene glycol from the Mideast Gulf were effectively halted by the war, with tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz — the main route for Mideast Gulf crude, LNG and petrochemicals exports — almost at a standstill since the US and Israel began launching air strikes on Iran on 28 February. Tehran has responded by attacking other countries in the region, including targeting oil and gas infrastructure and shipping.
Kuwait supplies most of its monoethylene glycol (MEG) to Asia, mainly to India, China and Pakistan. The country exported over 1.2mn t of MEG in 2025, Global Trade Tracker data show. India received 548,000t or 45pc of total exports, while China and Pakistan took 402,000t and 165,000t, representing 33pc and 14pc of exports, respectively.
