Saudi SABIC Unit Awards Deals To CTCI, Sinopec

Arabian Industrial Fibers Co (Ibn Rushd), an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC), signed contracts with Taiwan's CTCI and China's Sinopec Engineering to expand its capacity, SABIC said.

The contract with CTCI would double Ibn Rushd's aromatics production capacity to 1.2 million tons per year from 560,000 tons and more than double its terephthalic acid capacity to 750,000 tons per year, SABIC said in an emailed statement. It did not give the value of the deals.

The contract with Sinopec Engineering, will see the creation of a new polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant and increase capacity to 750,000 tons per year from 330,000 tons, it said.

"The projects will take between 24 and 27 months," SABIC said.

The Ibn Rushd complex, in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, produces aromatics, purified terephthalic acid (PTA) which is used in making polyester, and polyester staples. SABIC owns 47% of Ibn Rushd.

SABIC is restructuring and introducing new products, Mohammed al-Mady, chief executive officer of SABIC, told Reuters in October.