Riyadh - SABIC affiliate, Eastern Petrochemical Company (SHARQ), has signed letters of intent to award contracts to:
1.Stone & Webster Ltd., UK, to construct an Olefins Plant with a production capacity of 1,300,000 MT per annum of Ethylene;
2.Samsung Engineering Company Ltd., South Korea, to construct its Ethylene Glycol Plant with a production capacity of 700,000 MT per annum (increasing overall Ethylene Glycol production capacity to more than 2,000,000 MT per annum).
3.Linde, Germany, to construct its Linear Low and High Density Polyethylene plants with a production capacity of 800,000 MT per annum, which will increase polyolefins production at SHARQ to reach more than 1,600,000 MT per annum.
Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO said, "SHARQ's expansion project will add 2.8m MT annually to SABIC's production and will further enhance SHARQ's position as the world's largest single producer of Ethylene Glycol. This will also enhance SABIC's global ranking alongside the other global petrochemicals companies who produce this product. SABIC is currently ranked 2nd and is expected to become number one once this project comes on stream. SABIC is the world's 3rd largest producer of polyethylene and number four for polyolefins."
The agreements will cover engineering, procurement and construction of the plants at the SHARQ affiliate in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia. These will be complete by the first quarter of 2008.
The letters of intent were signed by Mr. Mohammad Al-Jabri, SHARQ President, with executive representatives from Stone Webster Ltd., Samsung Engineering Company and Linde.
SHARQ is a joint venture equally owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and SPDC Ltd, a Japanese consortium led by the government of Japan and the Mitsubishi group of companies.
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About the company
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is the largest company in the Middle East by market capitalization (at more than US$ 100 billion), and the 10th largest petrochemicals manufacturer in the world. It is a market leader in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, glycols, methanol, MTBE and fertilizers and the fourth largest polymers producer in the world.
SABIC's profit rose to a record SR 14.2 billion (US$ 3.8 billion) in 2004, a 112% increase on 2003 and the company's highest profit since inception. Sales revenues for 2004 totaled SR 68.5 billion (US$ 18.3 billion), an increase of 47% on revenues in 2003 making SABIC the largest and most profitable public company in the Middle East.
SABIC operates six interlinked strategic business units: Basic Chemicals, Intermediates, Polyolefins, PVC and Polyester, Fertilizers and Metals. The company has significant research resources and has dedicated Research and Technology centers in Riyadh, Geleen in the Netherlands, Houston USA and Vadodara in India. SABIC has more than 16,000 employees worldwide.
SABIC has two large production sites in Saudi Arabia - in Al-Jubail and in Yanbu - comprising 18 world-scale complexes. Some of these complexes are operated with multi-national joint venture partners such as Exxon Mobil, Shell, Fortum, Ecofuel/ENI and Mitsubishi Chemicals. SABIC's overall production capacity has increased from 35.4 million metric tons in 2001 to 42.9 million metric tons of production in 2004.
Headquartered in Riyadh, SABIC was founded in 1976 when the Saudi Arabian Government decided to use the hydrocarbon gases released in oil production as the raw material for the production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers. The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70% of SABIC shares with the remaining 30% held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
SABIC Europe has its headquarters in Sittard in the Netherlands. It operates two petrochemical production sites in Geleen, Netherlands and Gelsenkirchen in Germany for the production, marketing and sales of polypropylenes, polyethylenes and hydrocarbons. In 2004 SABIC Europe sold 6 million tons of polymers, base chemicals and intermediates, mainly to the European market, employing 2,300 people.
For more information please contact:
Mohammad Al-Motawa
General Manager
Corporate Communications
© Press Release 2005
