The startup of Kuwait Styrene Company's (TKSC) new ethyl benzene styrene monomer unit will be delayed for about four to eight weeks due to a technical issue, TKSC said on Tuesday.

"The delay comes days before the unit was scheduled to begin commercial operations and is due to a technical issue with an intermediate storage tank used in the production of styrene monomer," TKSC said in a statement.

The firm said it had plans in place to lessen the impact of the production shortfall on its clients. It gave no details.

The petrochemical plant, which will be operated by Equate, a firm largely owned by Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) and US partner Dow Chemical, was set to produce 450,000 tonnes of styrene monomer annually.

The unit was due to start operation in the second quarter of 2009, according to previous company statements.-Reuters