Rubber News 07/2013

US-based petrochemical firm ExxonMobil Chemical and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) had announced a 50:50 joint venture worth SR12.75 billion. The elastomer project is being constructed at the Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company (Kemya) complex in Jubail city.


When completed, the facility will produce an estimated 400,000 tonnes a year of carbon black, rubber and thermoplastic specialty polymers.

Simon Holmes, Saudi elstomers Industry development at ExxonMobil, said recently at the MEED (Middle East Economic Digest) Saudi Arabia Energy EPC Projects 2013 conference at Al-Khobar: “When you bring this production into the kingdom, you could find uses for it in automotive and construction Industries.”

ExxonMobil’s technology will support Kemya plant by bolstering reinforcement for Sabic in terms of providing training for elastomers know-how to Saudi workers via the High Institute for Elastomer Industries (HIEI). Packages under development would be Carbon Black, Menthyl Tertiary-butyl Ether (MTBE), Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM), Polybutadiene Rubber (PBR), and Halobutyl Rubber Plant (HRP).

The products will be sold on local and international markets. Holmes added: ““It is not just a question of serving Saudi Arabia. It is also a question of feeding the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and even some countries in Africa.”