First petrochemical project wholly owned by foreign investor in KSA to come onstream by Aug 2020

27-Jun-17

Pan-Asia PET Resin (Guangzhou) Co, one of the top three polyethylene terephthalate bottle suppliers in China, anticipates its US$3.8 biln petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia will break ground next March and the first phase of the complex will become operational in August 2020. The project will be the first petrochemical project wholly owned by a foreign investor in Saudi Arabia. Upon completion, capacities at the Jazan Economic City located plant will include 2.5 mln metric tpa of purified terephthalic acid, 1 mln tpa of PET, 200,000 tpa of engineering plastic, 200,000 tpa of thin film, 200,000 tpa of polyester fiber and 5,000 tpa of heavy equipment.
A paraxylene facility operating in Jazan Economic City ensures that the project will benefit from its proximity to raw materials. Proximity to markets of the MENA region will add to the benefits. The Middle East alone imports 3 million tons of PTA annually, mainly from East Asia and Saudi Arabia currently has no production of PTA. It will also enjoy the advantage of much lower taxes and land and energy costs, including natural gas, diesel, gasoline and electricity, although construction and labor costs are much higher than at its operations in China.