Sabic affiliate, the Saudi Methanol Company (Ar-Razi) in Jubail Industrial City, has awarded the 'Ar-Razi 5' project contract, which includes engineering and construction, to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

The project is expected to go on-stream in 1Q 2008 with a methanol production capacity of 1.7 million tonnes per year (tpy).
Sabic Vice Chairman and CEO, Mohamed Al-Mady said, "The 'Ar-Razi 5' project is a worldwide mega project in terms of its large capacity and use of world-class technology.
"A single production line will achieve high production capacity using oxygen as a burning medium, which in turn significantly cuts down the overall project costs of construction and subsequent operation.
"This project will strengthen Sabic's competitive capability in the global methanol market."
Sabic is currently the world's second largest producer of methanol. The project will also strengthen Ar-Razi's position as the largest single complex for the production of methanol worldwide. The existing capacity is three million tpy.  This will be expanded to 5 million tpy following completion of the project.
Ar-Razi, established in 1979, is 50:50 owned by Sabic and a Japanese consortium led by Mitsubishi.
Ar-Razi started its initial production in 1983, leading to the first shipment of methanol from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.