Saudi Arabia & Iran to finalise Petrochemical joint venture
Saudi Arabia : 29-Jul-2004
The Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) and Iran's Marun Petrochemical Company are expected to finalise a joint venture agreement within the next two months. This is the first joint venture between SABIC and the Iranian company, the two petrochemical giants in the region. SABIC is world player in the petrochemical sector and Iran is endeavouring to raise its production manifolds to exploit the natural riches of the region. After finalisation, SABIC would own 50 per cent of the seventh olefin project, currently under construction and will also undertake half of the total cost of the project, which is expected to produce 1.1 million tonnes of ethylene as intermediate product, as well as 1.35 million tonnes of polymers. The project has been reported as 90.46 per cent complete by the end of first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year. This unit will increase the Iranian annual olefin production by four per cent to six per cent. In March 2004, it was made known that SABIC has agreed to co-operate with Iran for marketing and selling Iran's petrochemical products, especially from Marun, both in the domestic and international markets.
