SABIC unit signs deal for $400 mln port project

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has said that one of its units has awarded contracts for a new storage, handling and shipping terminal at King Fahd Industrial Port in Jubail. It said Jubail Chemicals Storage and Services Company (JCSSC) has awarded engineering, procurement and construction contracts to China National Chemical Engineering Corporation (CNCEC). The total investment is estimated to be $400 million, the company said in a statement. “The project will enable the continued growth of the petrochemical and downstream industries in Saudi Arabia,” it added. JCSSC is a joint venture in which SABIC holds 75 per cent and Vopak 25 per cent. The plan is to finance the project from the parties’ own resources as well as through external funds, the statement said. Once commissioned in early 2015, the storage capacity of the terminal will be approximately 250,000 cubic metres. The first phase will consist of around 40 commodity and specialty chemical storage tanks, complete with truck handling and ship loading facilities for five berths. The statement added: “The investment in this industrial terminal will provide the petrochemical industry in Jubail with a critically important export facility, designed to the highest safety standards, and will enable the continued growth of the petrochemical and downstream industries in one of the largest petrochemical production locations in the world.” SABIC, the world’s biggest petrochemicals group by market value, posted a 23 per cent slump in third-quarter net profit, citing lower product pricing for the decline. From Gulf Today