Saudi's SABIC in Japanese chemicals venture

Shrouq will build a plant at a SABIC affiliate site in Jubail.

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Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has said it will launch a JV firm with Japan's Asahi Kasei Chemicals and Mitsubishi, reports Arab News.

The new company, Saudi Japanese Acrylonitrile Co. (Shrouq), will build a plant to produce acrylonitrile (AN) and sodium cyanide (NaCN) at one of the SABIC affiliates' sites in Jubail. The facility will have a capacity of 200,000t/y of the former and 40,000t/y annually of the latter.

The new company, with a paid-up capital of SR40million, will help SABIC diversify its petrochemical portfolio to acrylonitrile butadiene stirene (ABS), carbon fibre, acrylic fibre and acrylamide, allowing it to serve various industries such as automotive, construction, water treatment, oil recovery, gold mining and others, said SABIC chief executive Mohammed Al-Mady.

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The three companies will start conducting basic engineering design and will make a final investment decision in 2012.

“A key driver for the project is Saudi Arabia's National Industrial Clusters Development Programme aimed at growing and diversifying the Kingdom's manufacturing sector,” said Al-Mady.

Asahi Kasei Chemicals said in an official statement that solid demand growth for AN was expected to continue worldwide, and that the company had been considering the construction of a new AN plant to meet rising demand in MENA.