SABIC, Sipchem Plan Saudi Complex

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) have agreed to collaborate on a $4 billion series of petrochemical projects in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. SABIC will spend $3.2 billion to build a 250,000-metric-ton-per-year methyl methacrylate plant and a 200,000-metric-ton acrylonitrile unit, plus poly(methyl methacrylate), polyacrylonitrile, carbon fiber, polyacetyl, and sodium cyanide units. Sipchem will spend $810 million to build a 125,000-metric-ton polyvinyl acetate facility and a 200,000-metric-ton ethylene vinyl acetate plant. The companies expect to complete the projects by the middle of 2013. Sipchem makes methanol in Saudi Arabia and has also been developing an acetyls complex there. SABIC is one of the world's largest petrochemical makers but has been investing further downstream in the supply chain. It purchased GE Plastics in 2007 and is participating in the Saudi Kayan project, which will make products such as polycarbonate resins and ethoxylates.