Saudi Arabia recently launched new industrial and development projects to the tune of over 35 billion riyals ($9.3 billion), an investment that is concentrated in Jubail.

On a visit to the city last October, Crown Prince Abdullah opened or laid the foundation stone for 14 projects, including chemical, petrochemical and industrial projects, a water production and a storage project.

The launch of these projects completes the first phase of the industrial city of Jubail.

In private sector investment alone, it is claimed that Jubail, along with Yanbu, had attracted more than 200 billion riyals ($53 billion).

The second phase of expansion at the two cities has already been approved, with expected investments of 130 billion riyals ($34 billion).

One of the key new players on the Jubail scene is the National Polypropylene Company (NPPC), a recently registered wholly owned Saudi company.

It will soon start the construction of its plants and corporate facilities to produce polymers from propane, which has been allocated by the NGL (natural gas liquids) division of Saudi Aramco.

The project, estimated at over SR2 billion, will be executed on a fast-track schedule.

It is considered one of the largest downstream industries to be set up in Jubail Industrial City.

Polymers produced by NPPC, which are intermediate petrochemical components, have already been contracted for export to several foreign companies, deliveries of which are due to begin after the plant has passed performance tests.

The plant's annual production will stand at 500,000 tonnes.

NPPC has assigned the Gulf International Bank (GIB) in Riyadh to provide the local equity placement for the company's polypropylene project.

Financing for the project is being arranged through the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF) and other commercial banks from the region.

ABB Lummus Global has been selected the technical partner of the project.

The firm will provide project management and engineering services in support of licenses by Sabic for the propane dehydrogenation unit and by Novolen Technology Holdings CV of the Netherlands for the polymer unit, reports suggest.

Sabic will further support the project by providing training of the NPPC staff in existing local facilities in the Jubail area.

Samsung Engineering Ltd of Korea will be the principal contractor for the facility and engineering, procurement and construction work is due to begin shortly; at its peak, the project is expected to employ about 2000 people.

Meanwhile, JGC Corporation has been awarded a lump-sum contract by Saudi Aramco for the construction of cogeneration facilities at Saudi its Berri Gas Plant.

JGC is set to provide overall services including design, equipment/materials procurement, and construction for the cogeneration facilities with completion scheduled for April 2005.

Gulf Advanced Chemical Industries Co (Gacic) has chosen Aker-Kvaerner to erect a 75,000 tonnes per year (tpy) butanediol (BDO) plant Jubail.

The project will be worth up to $150 million and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2005.

It will use Huntsman's butane-to-maleic anhydride process and Davy Process Technology's maleic-to-BDO technology.

The local National Polypropylene Co (NPC), is currently gearing-up to build a new polypropylene plant in Jubail which is expected to require an investment of $530 million to build.

US-based ABB Lummus Global was recently awarded a technical consultancy contract and will be responsible for the provision of project management and engineering services.

ABB Lummus Global has also won a technology licence and basic engineering contract from Chevron Phillips Chemical and its joint venture partner Saudi Investment Group for a previously announced styrene project at Jubail.

Capacity will stand at 750,000 tpy styrene and completion is due in 2007.

It will form part of a $1 billion complex that will also make ethylene and propylene.