Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), the petrochemicals arm of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), will partner Dow in the manufacture and marketing of polyethylene, ethyleneamines, ethanolamines, polypropylene, and polycarbonate.

PIC and Dow will each own 50 per cent of the new company.

PIC will pay some $9.5bn for the 50 per cent stake.

The joint venture, to be headquartered in the US, will have revenues of more than $11bn and employ more than 5,000 people worldwide.

“The joint venture between PIC and Dow will be positioned to flourish in high-growth economies through access to feedstock from future KPC refineries in emerging markets,” says Maha Hussain, the newly-appointed managing director of PIC. “This will give the new venture the advantage of full integration from feedstocks to derivatives, while meeting growing customer demand in emerging markets.”

PIC already has manufacturing and marketing ventures with Dow through MEGlobal and Equipolymers.

In Kuwait, Dow and PIC are the two majority shareholders in Equate Petrochemical Company, a polymer manufacturer.

KPC and PIC are also looking to set up production with Dow and local partners in both India and China.