SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation) and US-based petrochemical firm ExxonMobil Chemical have teamed up in the SR12.75 billion elastomers project being constructed at the Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company (Kemya) complex in Jubail, which is a 50:50 joint venture of Sabic and ExxonMobil.
Exxonmobil’s Saudi elastomers industry development officer, Simon Holmes, said the venture is expected to bring a lot of opportunity for the conversions industry in the Middle East kingdom.
“When you bring this production into the Kingdom, you can find uses for it in automotive and construction industries,” he said recently at the MEED Saudi Arabia Energy EPC Projects 2013 conference held at Al-Khobar.
When completed, the facility will produce an estimated 400,000 tonnes a year of carbon black, rubber and thermoplastic specialty polymers.
Holmes said that the plant will utilise ExxonMobil’s technology and the products will be sold on local and international markets, adding, “It is not just a question of serving Saudi Arabia. It is also a question of feeding the GCC and even some countries in Africa. You can’t build a small plant that will only ‘serve the village’ in todays’ markets, you need a large facility.”
Nonetheless, while ExxonMobil has no plans to build any conversion industries in the rubber industry, it says that it provides reinforcement for Sabic in terms of providing training for elastomers know-how to Saudi workers via the High Institute for Elastomer Industries (HIEI).