Kuwait’s state-owned Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) is looking for buyers for its Shuaiba fertiliser chemicals complex in the south of the country.

The state-owned holding company put out a tender for the sale, stating that the buyer must relocate the assets out of Kuwait for use in similar industries.

The plants up for sales have the capacity to produce 1,880 tonnes a-day (t/d) of ammonia and 3,150 t/d of urea – both products used in nitrate fertilisers.

Potential buyers have been given 30 days to apply to acquire the plants.

PIC announced in 2009 that it had a long-term plan to sell its fertiliser assets, the same year it was forced to shut down the operation for a month due to a lack of gas.

The most recent plants were completed in 2002 after an estimated $90m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract was awarded to Italy’s Tecnimont and the local Kharafi National for a new urea granulation unit.