The Kuwait Styrene Company (TKSC), a joint venture between Kuwait Aromatics Company and Dow Chemicals, has announced a $99 million net profit for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011, compared to $81 million the year before.

Announcing the results, TKSC board chairman Ahmad Al-Habib said, “These profits were realized due to a number of elements relevant to stability in petrochemical prices, having a solid customer base, operational excellence and strategic marketing.”

Al-Habib pointed out that the company's total sales in 2011 surged to more than $662 million, 'which is a positive sign indicating the continuous recovery of petrochemical markets.'

TKSC chief executive officer Adel Al-Munifi said, “With the average per ton price of styrene monomer (SM) being $1,400 during 2011, SM markets continue their positive growth as demand exceeds four percent annually, especially in light of escalating gross domestic product growth in emerging economies, such as China, India and others.”

“The operational excellence at the Company’s plant has positively reflected upon optimizing performance as actual production has exceeded the nameplate capacity of 450,000 metric tons annually,” Al-Munifi added.

As Kuwait’s first and only producer of Styrene Monomer, TKSC was established in 2004.

Equate Petrochemical Company is the single operator of Greater Equate, which includes TKSC, Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company and Kuwait Olefins Company under one fully integrated operational umbrella at Kuwait’s Shuaiba Industrial Area.-TradeArabia News Service