Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic) has invited bids for the construction of a 50,000 tonnes-per-year polyacetal (POM) facility at its affiliate Ibn Sina in Jubail, industry sources said.

National Methanol Co, better known as Ibn Sina, is 50-per cent owned by Sabic while Celanese and an affiliate of Duke Energy each have a 25 per cent stake. Companies invited to submit bids by October 24 are Spain’s Dragados, China National Chemical Engineering, Taiwan’s CTCI, South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering, Daelim Industrial, Hanwha Engineering and SK Engineering and Construction.

In 2010, when Sabic signed an agreement with Celanese to develop the project, it said the investment was expected to be nearly $400 million. It said then the plant would go online by 2013 with engineering and construction work starting by 2011.

The facility will use methanol feedstock from Ibn Sina to make POM, largely used in the automotive industry. Sabic is building a $3.4 billion synthetic rubber project in Jubail in a joint venture with Exxon Mobil Chemical, a unit of ExxonMobil, riding increased transport demand and vehicle use in the region, Africa and Asia.

Meanwhile, the International Shipping and Transportation Company, a subsidiary of Sabic has signed a time charter agreement for three chemical tankers with the National Chemical Carriers Company (NCC). The tankers will be used to transport petrochemicals liquids to the international ports for a period of five years, with an option of extension for another five years.