POSCO wins contract for Jubail wire-cable plant

Jubail is undergoing major industrial construction.

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POSCO Engineering & Construction has won the main contract for the engineering, design procurement and construction of a wire and cable compounding plant in Jubail Industrial City.

The contract, awarded by Gulf Advanced Cable Insulation Company, will see the Korean contractor build the plant which will produce the power cable insulation materials at the site of Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem). Sipchem jointly owns Gulf Advanced with Korea’s Hanwha Chemical Corporation.

The estimated cost of the plant is around SAR 230 million which is expected to start its operation in the third quarter of 2013. The major feedstock for the plant will be sourced from the International Polymers Company, a Sipchem affiliates.

The award is a major step in the expansion of downstream products for Riyadh-listed Sipchem, according to Abdulrahman A. Al-Saif, President Project and Services at the company.

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Fifteen-year-old POSCO E&C is a diverse contractor based in South Korea diverse which competes for contracts to build steel, power and environmental plant, new city developments and high-rise buildings. It has three regional offices – in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh – within its global network.

Hanwha – part of the Hanwha Group – is one of Korea’s most diverse business conglomerates. Its business lines include a wire and cable compounding business. The Jubail venture represents the company’s “strong commitment to Middle East region as an essential part of its globalisation process”.

In April, Hanwha Engineering & Construction signed a $1.05bn deal to build a power station and desalination plant in Saudi Arabia, in a deal with Marafiq, a Saudi power and water utility company.

Korean contractors have been steadily building their portfolios in the Gulf region with major infrastructure and building work. Last year, Hyundai Engineering partnered with HBK Contracting in Qatar for the first phase of the Msheireb development.