The firm is planning further expansion after completion of its first 10 plants in Jubail

Saudi Arabia’s Sahara Petrochemicals plans to start up four joint venture plants over the next two years, completing the company’s initial expansion programme in Jubail, according to the company’s executive president, MEED reported.

The company, which started in 2004, will have ownership of 10 plants in the Eastern Province petrochemicals hub by the end of 2014, says Saleh Bahamdan.

Plants set to start up in 2013 include the $500m chlor-alkali joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), which will produce 300,000 tonnes a year (t/y) of ethylene di-chloride and 250,000 t/y of caustic soda.

Another project expected to be commissioned is an acrylic acid plant, which Sahara jointly owns with Saudi group Tasnee and the US’ Dow Chemical. The complex has proposed nameplate capacities of 145,000 t/y of acrylic acid and 160,000 t/y of butyl acrylate.

The super-absorbent polymer (Sap) plant – a joint venture of Sahara and Tasnee subsidiaries and Germany’s Evonik Industries – is also on track for commissioning by the end of 2013.

A fourth plant to produce 330,000 t/y of n-butanol is expected to come onstream by the end of 2014. The project is a joint venture of Sahara, Tasnee, Sabic, and Sadara Chemical, the latter a partnership of Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical.

Bahamdan said that Sahara is studying the possibility of starting further projects in 2015 after the current wave of construction is completed.

“There is no limit to the opportunities in expansion,” says the executive president. “We are looking to do more improvement on cost – to do more with less cost.”

Riyadh-based Sahara went public on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in May 2004. Al-Zamil Group is the major shareholder, with 7.91 per cent ownership.