SABIC, ExxonMobil award contracts for Al-Jubail elastomers plant

16 May 2011 05:33  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS)--SABIC and ExxonMobil have awarded contracts for the construction of an elastomers project at Al-Jubail in Saudi Arabia, SABIC said late on Sunday.

The project is a joint venture (JV) between SABIC and ExxonMobil.Front-end engineering design (FEED) contracts were awarded to US-based Jacobs Engineering and Japan’s Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding for process units. US-based Fluor Transworld Services was contracted for associated support facilities, SABIC said.

“The project is expected to establish a domestic supply of more than 400,000 tonnes of rubber [butyl, styrene butadiene rubber (SBR), butadiene rubber (BR) and ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM)], thermoplastic specialty polymers and carbon black to serve the emerging local and international markets in Asia and the Middle East,” SABIC said.

The financial details of the deals were not disclosed.

The elastomers project is an expansion of Al-Jubail Petrochemical (KEMYA), a 50:50 JV between SABIC and Exxon Chemical Arabia, an affiliate of ExxonMobil Chemical.

Third-party licence agreements have been secured with Continental Carbon for its carbon black production technology and with Goodyear for its SBR and butadiene rubber technology, the company added.

“This elastomers project will be the basis for the creation of a world-class rubber value chain in Saudi Arabia and a valuable extension of our offering of products and services to our customers in key markets,” said SABIC’s executive vice president for performance chemicals, Koos van Haasteren.

“In addition to supporting [the] local industry, the expansion at the KEMYA joint venture in Al-Jubail will provide additional new capacity of butyl rubber and EPDM specialty elastomers to meet the growing global demand for these products,” said ExxonMobil’s senior vice president for polymers, Neil Chapman.

Elastomers are used in the manufacture of tyres.

For more on SBR and BR, visit ICIS chemical intelligence
Please visit the complete ICIS plants and projects database
Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections

By: Pearl Bantillo
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