Yanbu & Jubail, KSA

PIPEDOWN Not pretty perhaps, but oil production defines this place.
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These industrial cities exist only for one reason – oil. As a result, demand for heavy kit is booming.

Yanbu

Although less well known than Mecca, Jeddah or Damman, it is highly likely for years to come that Yanbu will be a major area of construction.

The town’s rise to prominence came in 1975 when the government designated what was then just a small settlement to be one of the new industrial centres – the other being Jubailon the east coast. Since, Yanbu has grown to be KSA’s ‘second’ port after Jeddah as an important petroleum shipping terminal. The city also acts as a port for Medina.

As a result, the city of 250,000 provides some strong opportunities for construction projects relating to the petrochemical industry and its related infrastructure – providing ample opportunity for machinery suppliers, as well as those who maintain and operate heavy equipment and trucks.

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In summer 2009, King Abdullah opened several projects in the industrial city, including the US $5.3bn Yanbu National Petrochemicals Company, road and bridge projects worth US $35m and US $533m of other projects all based in Yanbu ‘2’.

He also opened a SABIC development as well as an US $800m power station expansion. Meanwhile a US $3.7bn desalination plant has been signed off and an expansion plan for the Prince Abdul Moshen Bin Abdul Aziz airport has been launched, providing huge scope for heavy machine operators with a base in the country.

Confidence in the future of Yanbu remains very high. “Jubail and Yanbu are very successful stories. When they started in the 1980s everybody was saying ‘these people are crazy, don’t bother doing it’– everybody was grumbling about its failure and now everybody is talking about its success. It proved to be the right decision at the right time,” says Saudi Arabian deputy minister for town planning, Dr Abdulrahmen Al Shaikh.

“I know there are some who have their doubts about the success of the economic cities, but this is the nature of people. I believe they will prevail, because the Kingdom’s economy and resourses are sound and if it is the will of the government to support it, then it will go on.”

Despite the economic slowdown, Yanbu appears to be getting back on its feet. At the end of July 2009 Saudi Aramco and Conoco Philips reopened the tender to construct a 400,000 bpd refinery project in Yanbu, worth an estiomated US $12bn. Meanwhile, the current tenders list for the city indicates strong growth in the healthcare sector, with several health clinics and medical staff accommodation being planned.