Saudi joint stock company Alujain Corporation has announced plans for substantially expanding its involvement in the Jubail-Yanbu industrial cities.

Alujain is the founding investor with 41.66 per cent equity stake in National Petrochemical Industrial Company (Natpet), which is establishing the Teldene polypropylene project. Saudis have a 65 per cent stake in the project with Technimont holding the remainder.

The $225 million project will be located in Yanbu and produce 300,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of polypropylene using the Montell technology, said Alujain vice president for projects development and Corporate Affairs. "Teldene will obtain its feedstock from an adjacent propane dehydrogenation plant "Alfasel". The Teldene project is expected to begin commercial production in the last quarter of 2004.

Alujain's ongoing projects include the Alfasel propane dehydrogenation and the super-alkylates plants.

The company is the leading promoter of Alfasel, a Saudi limited liability company being formed to establish a $275 million, 350,000 tpy propane dedehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Yanbu. The plant is scheduled to come on stream in the third quarter of 2004. "The Alfasel project is primarily geared to supply about 300,000 tpy of propylene to the next-door Teldene project that is being developed by Natpet. Teldene will be incorporated in due course to build, own and operate the polypropylene plant," said Nusair.

The $475 million superalkylates project is being launched by Superalkylates Limited and developed by Alujain Corporation and Noble Americas to produce 900,000 tonnes of iso-octane using butane as the feedstock.

"Superalylates Limited could utilise the assets inherited by Alujain from its hands-on experience on the MTBE project. The product will be supplied mainly to US and European markets as a blend stock for the production of advanced gasoline without MTBE," said Nusair.

The project development work is in progress with a scheduled NTP target date of December 2001.

"Alujain and Noble signed an MOA in January 2001 and both parties have established a basis to move forward to assess the market conditions and project viability. The parties have met technology licensors, market consultants, EPC contractors and major US refiners," said Nusair.

Alujain was registered in December 1991 as a Saudi joint stock company with a paid-up capital of SR173 million ($46 million) and promoted by a group of prominent investors from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries. The company was formed with the objective of identifying, promoting, developing and investing in major industrial projects in the petrochemicals, minerals and metal sectors to serve both local as well as international markets.

Ownership in the form of shareholders includes the Saudi Cable Company, the Kanoo Group, Arabian Light Metals Company of Kuwait, Haji Abdullah Alireza, the Dallah Al Baraka Group and the Bin Laden Group.

Chairman of Alujain's board is Prince Nawaf bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. Vice chairman and CEO of the company is Khalid A Alireza. Alujain holds a 25 per cent stake in Arab Pesticides Industries Company "Mobeed", which is a Saudi limited-liability company representing an investment of $36 million. The company is backed by a number of prestigious Saudi companies including the Dallah Al Baraka Group and National Industrialisation Company (NIC). Mobeed was formed with a mission to become the leading pesticide formulator in the Middle East. It is engaged in the formulation of cost-effective crop protection chemicals and public- and animal-health products that support a sustainable environment. The plant is in Jubail and the production capacity is 3,000 tonnes per year.

Alujain holds a 20 per cent stake in the Saudi Information Development Industries (Sidi), which was formed in 1995. Sidi is the first in the Middle East to have a manufacturing facility for compact discs and replications as well as the first to have exclusive licensing agreements with major record labels and manufacturers such as EMI, BMG, MCA and RCA.

Another prominent company Alujain has stakes in is Arabian Industrial Fibers Company (Ibn Rush). The plant has been set up to produce aromatics, PTA and polyester fibres that are used in the textile industry, carpets and soft drink bottles. The founder and main partner is Sabic.