Saudi Kayan Petrochemicals Company said it expects to start trial operations at its petrochemicals complex's main units in the third quarter of this year.

Kayan, located in Jubail and a unit of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), said that pre-commissioning work at the complex was on schedule.

The company had said in April the complex's main facility - an ethylene cracker - would start operations in the second half of this year with other units to follow slowly through in 2012.

Jubail is home to a petrochemicals hub on the Gulf coast of top oil exporter Saudi Arabia.

The complex will have an annual production capacity of six million tonnes of petrochemicals including ethylene, propylene and ethylene glycol from 16 plants.

The firm also said in the statement that it trimmed its second-quarter net loss to 1.8 million riyals ($480,000) from SR6.5 million in the same period last year.