Steps are in progress for a major plant to produce soda ash and calcium chloride in Jubail’s Second Industrial City.

The plant, to be called, Jubail Inorganic Chemicals Industries Company, is being set up by Idea Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride Company (Isacc) at a cost of SR1.1 billion ($266 million) and is designed for a total annual capacity of 800,000 tonnes. The products it will make are currently being imported and are used in oil and gas drilling operations and the manufacture of glass and detergents.

Jubail Inorganic Chemicals Industries Company will operate as a public joint stock company with a paid-up capital of SR650 million. Fifty per cent of its shares will be offered to the public early next year.

Isacc recently signed a deal with Jacobs Engineering to provide engineering and project management services for the construction of the plant which will make a significant contribution to the development of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy with all basic materials secured from mines within Saudi Arabia. It is viewed as an outstanding example of the progress being made in the development of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy and diversification of the kingdom’s revenues.

The company had fulfilled all requirements to start construction before the middle of 2012.

The project has strong support from the Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ministry, Saudi Aramco and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. Saudi Aramco has allocated the necessary gas and fuel for the facility, while the Royal Commission has allocated a 510,000 sq m plot of land for the factory at Jubail Industrial City-2.

The commissioning production run is scheduled to start by the end of 2014 and commercial operations will follow in the first quarter of 2015. Work is currently under progress to secure all the other necessary utilities to run the project.

The project will also contribute to the reduction of unemployment in Saudi Arabia by providing more than 800 job opportunities in the various facilities and plant services.

Jacobs Engineering has vast experience in this type of industry, which will directly impact the success of the project.

The facility would be one of the most technologically advanced and a role model for this type of industry since it will use various modern technologies that protect the environment and conserve water and energy consumption.

The advanced technologies would effectively reduce costs and raise the project’s profitability.

The Jubail Inorganic Chemicals Industries Company has already completed its feasibility and market studies, selected the technology and signed the necessary agreements to supply all of the raw materials and is now ready to commence work on the project.