RIYADH, 6 January — Saudi petrochemicals giant SABIC signed up for a $1.15-billion loan yesterday with a group of local and international banks to build a new petrochemical complex.
Jubail United Petrochemical Company (JUPC), a subsidiary wholly owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corp., will use the loan to construct the complex in Jubail industrial city, SABIC said in a statement.
The deal was "oversubscribed, because of SABIC’s project quality and sound Saudi economy," according to Gulf International Bank (GIB), which acted as the SABIC’s financial adviser.
JUPC is SABIC’s latest industrial affiliate, planning to come on stream in the second half of 2004 with an annual production capacity of one million tons of ethylene, 460,000 tons of glycol ethylene, 150,000 tons of linear alpha olefins and 400,000 of polyethylene.
SABIC, with a paid-up capital exceeding $4 billion and total assets of more than $21 billion, has 18 giant plants with 93 factories in Saudi Arabia producing mainly petrochemical products. The company, established in 1976, posted a $968-million profit in 2000, an increase of 112 percent over the previous year.
