SABIC, Mitsubishi Rayon partner for new Saudi Arabia facilities

SABIC and Mitsubishi Rayon Company (MRC) have partnered in a 50/50 joint venture company to build and operate two plants at one of SABIC’s manufacturing affiliates in Jubail, Saudi Arabia: one for methyl methacrylate (MMA), and the other for polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA).

According to a statement by the two companies, the MMA plant will be the largest ever built, with a 250,000-metric ton annual capacity. It will use MRC subsidiary Lucite International’s (LI) Alpha technology, which was first commercialized with its Alpha 1 plant which began operation in Singapore in November 2008. The PMMA plant will be based on MRC technology and will have an annual capacity of 40,000 metric tons.

The JV is intended to supply new high-value acrylic products, manufactured for the first time in the Middle East. “We will be building on a breakthrough technology, with a strong partnership and integrated feedstock,” said Koos Van Haasteren, SABIC’s executive vice president, Performance Chemicals. “Moreover, the global market for MMA is growing at a rapid pace. New applications are driving this increase in demand and we are committed to meeting our customer growth requirements worldwide.”