Strangeness Production in the Quark-Gluon Plasma

Rates are calculated for the processes gg..-->..ss-bar and uu-bar, dd-bar..-->..ss-bar in highly excited quark-gluon plasma. For temperature T> or =160 MeV the strangeness abundance saturates during the lifetime (approx.10/sup -23/ sec) of the plasma created in high-energy nuclear collisions. The chemical equilibration time for gluons and light quarks is found to be less than 10/sup -24/ sec.