Saudi Arabian chemicals firm SABIC and its partner, ExxonMobil recently hosted a symposium on promoting rubber industry downstream development at SABI’s Riyadh headquarters in Riyadh.
The event held November 18 was attended by government representatives, current rubber converters as well as related industry players who are seeking ways to diversify their business, besides prospective entrepreneurs looking to enter this market.
Amongst the dignitaries who attended the symposium was Prince Turki Bin Mohammed Bin Nasser Bin Abdul Aziz, International Relations Manager of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. His speech highlighted his ministry’s support for the efforts undertaken by industry players to improve the economy and provide new career opportunities as well as the competitive advantages that benefit local convertors.
Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, said, “Creating an efficient and competitive value chain for synthetic rubber is our focus in this initiative. The institution of a strong rubber goods industry in Saudi Arabia will be the single most significant hallmark of success in this endeavour. It is crucial that we inspire the entrepreneurial spirit that will spark innovation in the Kingdom and propel its economy forward.”
Koos van Haasteren, SABIC Executive Vice President, Performance Chemicals, said that one of the key features of development support is the SABIC Plastics Application Development Center (SPADC). “This state-of-the-art facility at the Riyadh Techno Valley, King Saud University, will be the largest center of its kind in the Middle East to support customers in characterization, processing and applications like mixing, extrusion, and injection molding capabilities,” he expounded.
SABIC will also apply an inventory management system that will utilise warehouses in both Yanbu, and Jubail for local customers to have easy access to their required raw material.
At the symposium, Mohammed A-Wakeel, General Manager Functional Polymers opf SABIC gave an overview of the project to produce synthetic rubber at Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company (KEMYA), a joint venture between SABIC and ExxonMobil. He said that SABIC has identified synthetic rubbers as an attractive opportunity for industrial development in Saudi Arabia and has sought out state of art technologies to meet the needs of a world class rubber processing industry. The KEMYA plants, he said, are expected to go onstream in 2015 and produce 400,000 tonnes per annum of Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM), Polyolefin Elastomers (POE), Butadiene Rubber, Butyl Rubber (BR) and Carbon Black, with commercial premarketing material available to the market by mid of 2013. “We’ll start at or above that capacity, with room to grow as needed. New synthetic rubber production in the Kingdom will provide new rubber goods and tire investment opportunities for entrepreneurs,” he said.
The opening of the High Istitute for Elastomer Industries (HIEI) in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia is one indication of the downstream support being highlighted by SABIC. The HIEI seeks to train Saudis for careers in the newly established Saudi elastomer conversion industry.
The group encouraged potential Saudi investors to expand their portfolio in the tyre and rubber goods industries, where they said is a growth market, driven by technology and economy of scale. (RJA)