Jubail Industrial City, already one of the world’s greatest petrochemical hubs, boasts a star tenant following the completion of formalities for setting up the Saudi Aramco-Dow Sadara joint venture. The city’s profile has already zoomed although the new 26-company complex is several years from completion.

Jubail Industrial city was already producing 7 per cent of the world’s petrochemicals and contributing 11.5 per cent of the kingdom’s non-oil GDP and 85 per cent of its non-oil exports, according to a Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu statement in 2010. Its petrochemicals yield was an amazing 68.5 million tonnes annually, the hub also contributing 15.5 million tonnes of refined products, 10.5 million tonnes of steel products and 192,000 tonnes of float glass per year.

Sadara will top up the pile with more than 3 million tonnes of high-value-added chemical products from the many integrated facilities that are being constructed at a cost of $20 billion. The Sadara complex, to be built in Jubail-2, is among several new ventures in the process of being set up or already operational.

Until the Sadara project was launched, the Jubail Export Refinery Project of Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (Satorp) captured most attention in energy circles.

Satorp is building a grass roots refinery with capacity to process 400,000 barrels per stream day of Arabian heavy crude oil to produce gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, paraxylene, petroleum coke and fuel oil for export and LPG, liquid sulphur, propylene and benzene for domestic consumption or further processing.

The SR48.7 billion ($12.9 billion) project is being built within Plot 9 of Jubail-2, about 3 km west of the long-established Jubail-1. Saudi Aramco has a 62.5 per cent stake in the venture with Total owning the remainder stake of 37.5 per cent.

Commissioning time is late 2012 with commercial operations beginning in the first quarter of the following year. 

Other Jubail-2 projects
Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) announced recently that it has applied officially to the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu for permission to set up a PTA/PET project in Jubail-2 and approvals were expected soon.

Sheikh Mubarak, QPIC chairman, also said the company was contacting world-leading consultancy agencies to conduct a detailed feasibility study and engaging with a technical partner to operate the $1 billion project. 

Idea Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride Company (Isacc) has signed a deal with Jacobs Engineering to provide engineering and project services for the construction of a SR1.1 billion industrial complex in Jubail-2. The project aims to produce 800,000 tonnes of soda ash and calcium chloride annually. Fully fledged commercial production is anticipated to begin in Q1 2015.

Ibn Sina is expanding its facilities to produce polyacetal

Jubail-2 has welcomed the start of operations of Ingenia Polymers Corp’s compounding plant. Houston (US)-based Ingenia opened with one production line in October and expects to have the second running before year’s end, president and CEO John Lefas was reported to have said.

Ingenia’s facilities are designed to produce compounds based on polyethylene and polypropylene. According to a report in the media, Lefas originally had hoped to open the Saudi plant in mid-2009.

Product from the Jubail plant will be exported to the wider Middle East and to India and China. The company operates compounding plants in Houston, Ontario and Calgary (Alberta).

Also due to come up in Jubail-2 are a seamless steel pipe factory of Arcellor Mittal, a polysilicon plant of Shoaibi and a plant of Gas company to produce oxygen and nitrogen.

According to plans outlined by the Royal Commission, SR20 billion will be invested on basic infrastructure facilities across four stages in Jubail-2. First-stage facilities include gas, feedstock, water and power, wastewater, roads, a pipeline corridor and drainage canals, all of which have been completed at a cost of SR5 billion.

A number of similar facilities have also been completed in Jubail-2’s second stage.

Also, in line with a Master Plan, the Royal Commission completed by the end of 2010 the new Petrochemical Quay 2, seven additional berths and loading arm structures to meet the future needs of industries in Jubail Industrial City. The new quay has a total area of 800,000 sq m.

Jubail-1 developments
While the spotlight has been trained on Jubail-2, which will house new production facilities for some time to come, Jubail-1 has also lately witnessed important developments.

Construction is underway at Sabic affiliate Hadeed for facilities to produce 1 million tonnes of steel billets that will take the company’s total production capacity to 6 million tonnes of which long products will account for 4 million. Italian company Danieli has been entrusted with the project for the billets plant and the production line for galvanising long products. The facilities will be ready in the second half of 2012.

Meanwhile, most plants of the ambitious Saudi Kayan complex have started production at Jubail-1. Saudi Kayan has been designed to make specialised chemicals such as aminoethanols, aminomethyls, dimethylformamide, choline chloride, dimethylethanol, dimethylethanolamine, ethoxylates, phenol, cumene and polycarbonate which will provide wide opportunities for downstream industries. This is in addition to ethylene, propylene, polypropylene, ethylene glycol, butene-1 and other products.

Sabic in recent announcements said it will produce oleo-chemicals at Saudi Kayan with technology from Lurgi GmbH, which will also accomplish engineering for the project.

A new greenfield carbon black plant is being built at Kemya

Startup of the new production line is planned for the end of 2013. It will utilise renewable feedstock technology.

Also to go on stream that year is a facility to produce 50,000 tonnes of polyacetal at the Sabic affiliate National Methanol Company (Ibn Sina).

Sabic and ExxonMobil Corporation’s 50/50 joint venture partner Al Jubail Petrochemical Company (Kemya) have signed a long-term technology licensing agreement with Continental Carbon Company for its production technology related to the construction and operation of a new greenfield carbon black plant at Kemya’s complex at Jubail.

Kemya and Continental Carbon have also signed a long-term product off-take agreement.

Sabic and Mitsubishi have announced the formation of a 50/50 joint venture company to build and operate two plants, one for methyl methacrylate and the other for polymethylmethacrylate at one of Sabic’s manufacturing affiliates in Jubail-1.

Jubail-1listed 347 registered companies by late 2010 of which 30 were primary complexes, 40 were secondary industries and 277 were light and support industries.