Sabic partnering to build $6.4-billion plastics and petrochemicals complex in China

Photo Credit: Saudi Basic Industries Corp.

Chemical maker Saudi Basic Industries Corp. is partnering with a Chinese petrochemical company to build a massive new US$6.4-billion plastics and petrochemicals complex in Fujian, China.

In a Jan. 22 news release, officials with Riyadh-based Sabic said they will partner with Fujian Fuhua Gulei Petrochemical Co. Ltd. on the project, which will be called the Sabic Fujian Petrochemical Complex.

Sabic will own 51 per cent of Sabic Fujian Petrochemicals Co. Ltd., a joint venture that’s been formed to build the facility.

To be built in Fujian’s Gulei Industrial Park, the complex will consist of a mixed feed steam cracker, with an expected annual ethylene capacity up to 1.8 million tons, with a series of downstream facilities, including ethylene glycol (EG), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), and several other units.

The construction is scheduled to be completed in 2026, Sabic officials said, calling the complex a “centrepiece of [the company’s] investment footprint in China and by far the largest foreign investment in Fujian.”

“The project aims to support our goal of diversifying our feedstock sources and establishing a petrochemical manufacturing presence in Asia for a wide range of products,” Sabic CEO Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh said.

Officials also said the decision “marks the second key milestone” related to Sabic’s joint ventures in recent years, following the start of a new PC unit at the Sinopec Sabic Tianjin Petrochemical Co. Ltd. joint venture last year.