Saudi Basic Industries Corporation’s (Sabic) affiliate Eastern Petrochemical Company (Sharq) has signed letters of intent (LOI) with three companies for expansions.

In another development, Sabic signed an LOI with Aker Kvaerner and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) for the engineering, procurement and construction of its world-scale polyolefins complex, in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.
One of the Sharq contracts went to Stone & Webster Ltd, UK, for constructing an olefins plant with a production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per year (tpy) of ethylene.
Another contract was awarded to Samsung Engineering Company Ltd, South Korea, for constructing an ethylene glycol plant with a production capacity of 700,000 tpy, which will increase overall ethylene glycol production capacity there to more than 2 million tpy.
The third contract was bagged by Linde of Germany for the construction of a linear low- and high-density polyethylene plants with a production capacity of 800,000 tpy, which will increase polyolefins production at Sharq to more than 1.6 million tpy.
Mohamed Al-Mady, Sabic vice chairman and CEO said: “Sharq’s expansion project will add 2.8 million tonnes annually to Sabic’s production and will further enhance Sharq’s position as the world’s largest single producer of ethylene glycol. This will also enhance Sabic’s global ranking alongside the other global petrochemicals companies who produce this product. Sabic is currently ranked second and is expected to become number one once this project comes on stream.”
The agreements will cover engineering, procurement and construction of the plants at the Sharq complex in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.  These will be completed by the first quarter of 2008.
Sharq is a joint venture equally owned by Sabic and SPDC Ltd, a Japanese consortium led by the government of Japan and the Mitsubishi group of companies.
Commenting on the Yansab LOI, Al-Mady said: “Yansab is the newest Sabic affiliate. It is a symbol of our of hard work and team efforts. 
“In addition to the PP and LLDPE production capacity, Yansab is planned to produce 1.3 million tpy of ethylene; 400,000 tpy of propylene; 500,000 tpy of high-density polyethylene (HDPE); 700,000 tpy of mono ethylene glycol (MEG) and 250,000 tpy of benzene, xylene and toluene compound. The complex will manufacture a wide range of basic chemicals, intermediates and polymer products. This large capacity will strengthen Sabic’s competitive capabilities in global markets.”
Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, president Yansab, signed the LOI for Sabic, Dennis Loeng signed for Aker Kvaerner and Shia Biyo for Sinopec. The annual capacity for the two units is 800,000 tonnes.
Sabic reported first-half 2005 net profits of SR9.84 billion ($2.6 billion), an increase of 84 per cent compared with the same period last year. The company made net profits of SR14.25 billion in full-year 2004, an increase of 112 percent over the previous year, and had consolidated sales of SR 68.7 billion.
It also became the world’s most profitable chemical company in terms of both net income and return on equity.