The Egyptian Ethylene and Derivatives Company (Ethydco) sold 351,000 tons of polyethylene in 2017, 89,000 tons of which were sold in local markets, stated Abdel Megeed Hegazy, Head of Ethydco, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The company also sold around 5,600 tons of butadiene and 3000 tons of paraffin, said Abdel Megeed during the general assembly. The meeting was chaired by Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla to review the company’s results for 2017.

Integration with the oil companies in the Alexandria region will support the project and help employees cope with the global developments in the petrochemical industry, Abdel Megeed added.

He pointed out that the first low-density polyethylene plant was already operated using hexane on the first production line. This gives the product additional features in terms of specifications, applications and compliance with the requirements of the global market.

Abdel Megeed highlighted that a tender for the implementation of the poly-butadiene project is underway in order to produce 36,000 tons per year of the industrial rubber product, poly-butadiene. Investments will reach around $100 million, depending on the availability of the butadiene product from the Ethydco complex as production inputs.