Dow Chemical (Midland, Michigan / USA; www.dow.com) said it will market and sell the majority of output from its Sadara Chemical (Al-Jubail / Saudi Arabia; www.sadara.com) joint venture with Saudi Aramco (Dhahran; www.saudiaramco.com). The Sadara complex will produce plastics and specialty chemicals when it starts up in 2015-2016 – see Plasteurope.com of 15.06.2012. Dow said nearly half the products produced by Sadara will be supplied to expanding Asia Pacific markets, while the majority of the remainder will be sold in other key countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Africa and India. Sadara will take the lead in marketing its products in certain Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia, it added.

The marketing agreement “represents another significant step towards Dow’s ever-expanding global reach”, stated Dow CEO Andrew Liveris. “Dow’s strong brand, marketing and sales excellence and world-class operations, coupled with Sadara’s strategic supply position, will enable Dow to meet customer demand and stimulate growth in attractive emerging regions for decades to come.”

The integrated complex will comprise 26 manufacturing units and produce more than 3m t/y of products including PE, elastomers and PU. The first units are scheduled to come online in 2015, with all units running in 2016. The joint venture is projected to deliver annual revenues of approximately USD 10 bn (EUR 7.7 bn).