In a major global materials move, Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) and a Chinese partner will spend more than $6 billion to build a massive plastics and petrochemicals complex in Fujian, China.
Officials with Riyadh-based Sabic confirmed the project in a Jan. 22 news release. The firm will partner with Fujian Fuhua Gulei Petrochemical Co. Ltd. to invest $6.4 billion in the Sabic Fujian Petrochemical Complex. Sabic will own 51 percent of Sabic Fujian Petrochemicals Co. Ltd., a joint venture formed to build the complex.
In the release, officials described the planned complex as "another centerpiece of Sabic's investment footprint in China and by far the largest foreign investment in Fujian." The site will include a mixed feed steam cracker with annual production capacity of almost 4 billion pounds of ethylene.
The complex also will include downstream units making polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate and ethylene glycol. Construction is expected to be completed in 2026.
Sabic CEO Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh said the investment decision "is a significant milestone for Sabic's business expansion and development in China."
"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," he added.
Officials also said the decision "marks the second key milestone" related to Sabic's JVs in recent years, following the start of a new PC unit at the Sinopec Sabic Tianjin Petrochemical Co. Ltd. JV last year.
Sabic is majority owned by state-owned oil supplier Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia. Globally, Sabic employs more than 31,000 and is a global supplier of commodity and engineering resins. The firm is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with U.S. headquarters in Houston.