Italian contractor Saipem, in partnership with Egyptian contractor Petrojet, has won a contract worth about $150 million from Egyptian Ethylene & Derivatives Co. (Ethydco) for a polybutadiene plant.

The facility, Egypt’s first such plant, will have an expected capacity of 36,000 t/y. Saipem and Petrojet, which have a long history of working together in the country, will be jointly responsible for detailed engineering, procurement and supply of equipment and materials, construction, pre-commissioning, commissioning up to successful start-up and performance testing. A timescale for the project was not disclosed.

The scope of the plant comprises one train of low cis butadiene rubber and related facilities. Polybutadiene is a synthetic rubber that has a high resistance to wear and is used to make tires, which consume about 70% of global production.

Until 2016, Saipem was a subsidiary of Italian oil and gas giant Eni, which still owns about 30% of the contractor’s shares.