Germany's Ethylene Pipeline South, which was to be completed this year, will now be ready only in 2012, a company spokesman said Thursday.
Only a short section of 4 km remained to be built of the 360 km pipeline, he added.
"This delay is caused by a few court proceedings run by some farmers. Once we get the green light [from] the court, we will finish building the pipeline," he said.
"The whole EPS pipeline now is planned to be completed in 2012 because we must consider the weather and climate," he added, promising a "phase of extensive and strict technical tests before going operational."
The pipeline is to run from Munchsmunster in Bavaria across Baden-Wurttemberg to Ludwigshafen, according to the company's website.
The shareholders in the pipeline are Basell Polyolefine, BASF, Borealis Polymere, Clariant Produkte (Deutschland), OMV Deutschland, Vinnolit and Wacker Chemie.
