South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Company is building four chemical tankers for National Shipping Company  of Saudi Arabia (NSCSA), the Saudi firm said.

NSCSA said in a statement it would take delivery of the four tankers in 2007 and 2008. It did not say how much the contract was worth.
NSCSA received a SR436 million loan ($116 million) from the government’s General Investment Fund to partially finance the Hyundai deal, it said. Company officials declined to give further details.
The firm plans to raise SR5 billion ($1.3 billion) next year to fund a five-year expansion plan and double its fleet of oil and chemical product tankers.
It has mandated HSBC to finalise the financing for expansion plan.
NSCSA owns nine double-hulled very large crude carriers with a capacity of 2.1 million barrels each. It also owns 14 petrochemical carriers and has 10 more on order for delivery from the end of 2005.
Saudi Arabia has increased production and sales of its crude this year to try to meet growing demand for oil and to curb record prices. It is also rapidly expanding its petrochemicals output.