Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) – a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) – has acquired 49% of the operations of South Korea’s SKC to form a joint venture (JV) that will produce propylene oxide (PO) and propylene glycol (PG).
Kuwait’s state-owned news agency Kuna cited the chief executive officer of KPC, Hashem Sayyed Hashem, as saying:“The acquisition is part of KPC’s strategy to boost its international petrochemical investments, particularly core petrochemical products with high added value.”
Hashem added that the partnership with SKC also included acquisition of 45% stake in SKC Evonik Peroxide Korea — which according to a statement on Evonik’s website was founded in November 2010, after SKC took 45% share in Evonik Degussa Peroxide Korea Co., Ltd. (Ulsan), a subsidiary of Evonik Degussa.
Speaking about the partnership, CEO of PIC, Mutlaq Al-Azmi, said that the partnership with SKC aimed at diversifying PIC’s international portfolio, which will also boost its revenues and address price fluctuations.
According to Kuna, SKC had $2.5bn revenues in 2018 and its assets in Q1 2019 stood at $3.5bn, with the company exporting products to more than 60 countries.
