Chemanol (Methanol Chemicals Company) has announced that two of its projects currently under construction will soon be completed.
 Its methanol/carbon monoxide plant has reached 80 per cent completion whereas the new acetaldehyde plant is at 93.55 per cent of its completion.
 These two plants are part of the company’s ongoing backward integration and forward expansion plan with an investment of approximately SR2 billion ($533m). The entire expansion scheme comprising the establishment of five petrochemical plants is scheduled to reach completion by the  end of 2008. Other plants being built are the methyl amines and dimethylformamide (MA/DMF) plant, the pentaerythritol plant and the formaldehyde expansion plant.
 Proprietary licensed technology for Chemanol’s new pentaerythritol production facility is supplied by Swedish firm Perstrop AB, a world leader in the manufacturing of polyhydric alcohols and other specialty chemicals.
 The technology for MA/DMF plant is provided by Davy Process Technology, UK whereas Larsen & Toubro, the Indian engineering company is responsible for engineering, supplies and construction management of the MA/DMF plant.
Once completed and fully operational, Chemanol’s new facilities will provide 147 new job opportunities in Chemanol’s Jubail complex and increase the company’s production capacity from 426,600 tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 914,600 mtpa.
 Chemanol’s CEO Mazen Khalifa Allahiq Al-Nuaimi expressed his satisfaction at the progress, saying it brought the company closer to its objective to become one of the region’s key players in the sector.
The company currently makes formaldehyde and formaldehyde derivatives.
 Chemanol (formerly Saudi Formaldehyde Chemical Company) is a private sector enterprise, developed, promoted and financed by a group of leading industrialists from the GCC region. The company’s current production output generates revenues of approximately $125 million a year. Its current products are exported to more than 50 countries worldwide.
The company has launched an IPO worth SR723.6 million and comprising 60.3 million shares, representing 50 per cent of Chemanol’s total issued share capital.