The industrial giant, Al Zamil, has created Sahara Petrochemicals Company (SPC), which has revealed plans to invest in two major petrochemicals projects in Jubail industrial city.

The petrochemicals company plans to float SR300 million ($80 million) worth of shares to private investors in the kingdom, the UAE and other GCC states.
 SPC, Saudi Arabia’s first major private chemicals venture, has already raised the bulk of the funds for its planned capital of SR1.5 billion. It now plans tapping private investments from all GCC countries.
The company’s shares will be sold through the UAE market and banks but it is not clear when that will happen. Brokers in the UAE are awaiting information from the bourse and they feel it is a very good investment, according to a Dubai press report.
The first project will produce polypropylene while the second will establish an ethylene complex in collaboration with local and international partners. SPC targets total petrochemical investment of nearly SR8 billion.
Dealers in Saudi Arabia have said that around SR 1 billion had already been raised by shareholders for SPC while SR200 million would be raised through funds and other investors.
The remaining shares are to be sold to the public in the kingdom, the UAE and the four other GCC countries.
“Six million shares with a face value of SR50 each will be sold to Saudis in the kingdom and nationals in the other GCC states,” Al Zamil said in a statement after the share issue was approved by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (Central Bank).
It said subscription details would be available soon through banks in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries, including the National Commercial Bank and the Saudi American Bank (Samba).
According to the report, the Riyadh-based Consulting Centre for Finance and Investment will manage the public offering. Abdul Rahman Al Zamil is president of the centre.
Saudi Arabia, which controls a quarter of the world’s extractable oil resources, is gradually opening up its upstream oil sector to private investment within overall reforms intended to offset volatile oil prices and stimulate its economy.
The kingdom is already one of the biggest petrochemical producers, with its giant government-controlled Sabic producing nearly five per cent of the world’s total petrochemical output.
In the Arabian Gulf region, the cumulative total investment in the petrochemical sector amounted to $37 billion by the end of 2002 and another $40 billion in new investments was expected by 2010.