A few days ago, Advanced Petrochemical Company (Al Jubail, Saudi-Arabia; https://advancedpetrochem.com) completed the financing for the second polypropylene project at the Saudi Arabian site of Jubail.

The cost of the construction of an 843,000 t/y propane dehydrogenation facility (PDH) with two downstream PP units, which will each have a capacity of 400,000 t/y, has increased from USD 1.2 bn to USD 1.6 bn (just under EUR 1.6 bn) since the original declaration of intent from 2020. Completion of the project, which is still targeted for 2024, is also likely to be delayed.

Both Samsung Engineering and Tecnimont have been awarded contracts in connection with the project. The PDH facility will use the Lummus technology, Catofin, while Spheripol and Spherizone licences have been acquired from Basell for the PP lines.

For a large proportion of these production volumes, subsidiary company Advanced Polyolefins (an 85/15 joint venture between Advanced Petrochemical and the South Korean company SK Gas Petrochemical), which is planned to operate the facilities, has already concluded long-term purchase contracts with the distributors, Vinmar International, Tricon Dry Chemicals, and Mitsubishi. The aim is for the Saudi companies to also produce, for example, PP compounds for car production and other fields of application in the country, and thus replace the present imports. In addition to this, exports to Europe are also on the cards.

At the Jubail site, Advanced Petrochemical has so far been operating a PDH facility with a capacity of 455,000 t/y and two PP lines with a combined capacity of 500,000 t/y. The Saudi company is also connected to SK through the jointly built PDH facility at the South Korean petrochemical site of Ulsan (see Plasteurope.com of 26.05.2016).