KHOBAR - Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals Co said on Saturday it expects to start trial operations at its petrochemicals complex's main units in the third quarter of this year. Kayan, located in Jubail, said in a statement on the bourse website that pre-commissioning work at the complex was on schedule. The company had said in April the complex's main facility - an ethylene cracker - would start operations in the second half of this year with other units to follow slowly through in 2012. The complex will have an annual production capacity of 6 million tons of petrochemicals including ethylene, propylene and ethylene glycol from 16 plants. The firm also said in the statement that it trimmed its second-quarter net loss to SR1.8 million ($480,000) from SR6.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Kayan also said its second quarter loss narrowed to $480,000 from $1.73 million a year earlier. Kayan, 35 percent owned by SABIC, plans to develop annual production capacity of more than 4 million metric tons of petrochemicals, according to its website.
