Sadara CEO Ziad Al-Labban claims that the Middle East's ethylene capacity is now 20 percent of global production.
In an Oct. 22 news release following his appearance at the Ethylene Middle East Technology forum in Bahrain, he said the figure had risen by 8 percent in five years.
Ziad said the region is now the world's third largest region for ethylene production and it continues to grow, he said.
“By capitalizing on the abundance of natural resources, cost effective feedstock pricing, strong regulatory and industrial infrastructure and close proximity to markets with growing demand for our products, we see plenty of opportunity to not only further develop the chemicals industry, but to specifically diversify Saudi Arabia's role in it.”
Sadara is a joint venture between Dow Chemical Co. of Midland, Mich., and state-owned Saudi Aramco of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The JV is building a chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The $20 billion investment is on track to deliver its first products in the second half of 2015, with full operation expected in 2016.