Beirut (APD) - The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) agreed to grant a SR 315 million (about $84 million) loan to Nama Chemicals (NAMA) after the company fulfilled all necessary requirements for the loan, NAMA said in a statement on the Saudi Stock Exchange website, Tadawul on Tuesday.
The loan is destined for NAMA's Hassad manufacturing project which has a total cost of SR 700 million and which will produce 250,000 tons per year of different types of chemicals such as chlorine, caustic soda, HCL, calcium chloride and epichlorohydrin (ECH).
A Saudi contractor begun construction works at the project's site in Jubail Industrial City on the east coast of Saudi Arabia and the plant is expected to start operations by mid-2007, NAMA said.
Most of the output of Hassad is destined as supply for NAMA's affiliates and the remainder will be sold on the local and global markets, according to a statement NAMA made in 2005.
NAMA last year selected Foster Wheeler Energy to provide project engineering services (PES) for the Hassad project, and Italy's Saipem as the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services contractor.
Foster Wheeler Energy is the UK subsidiary of international engineering group Foster Wheeler Ltd.
Established in 1992, NAMA is involved in the development of industrial projects mainly in the field of petrochemicals.
Shares in NAMA went up by SR 2.50 or 8.13% to SR 33.25 in late afternoon trading on Tuesday. [TS]
By Shikrallah Nakhoul, APD Staff Writer in Beirut
© APD (Arab Press Digest) 2006
