Saudi-based Sadara Chemical Company, a joint venture between Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and The Dow Chemical Company, announced the production of commercial quantities of butyl glycol ether (BGE) at its plant, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The BGE will be refined into several specialty chemicals that Sadara will be producing in Saudi Arabia for the first time.   

The single-train plant, one of 26 ones located in the company’s chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II, will enable new manufacturing facilities to be established in the kingdom, which will create new job opportunities for locals, it said.

The plant will produce multiple grades of liquid derivatives including butoxy glycol ether, butoxy diGlycol ether, butoxy tri glycol ether and butoxy poly glycol ether, it added.

These derivatives have a wide range of commercial and industrial applications, including the production of industrial solvents, stain removers, plasticisers as well as agricultural crop protection applications, said a statement.

Commenting on the announcement, CEO Ziad Al Labban said: “This is yet another major milestone for Sadara made possible thanks to the dedication and hard work of Sadara’s highly-talented workforce.”

“Over the next couple of months, we expect to start up our remaining manufacturing plants, steadily moving towards the realisation of full operations,” he added.

First PMDI facility

Earlier, it announced the production of commercial quantities of on-specification liquid polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (PMDI) at its plant, the largest single train facility of its kind in the world.

PMDI, which is used in the production of polyurethane, is one of several specialised chemical and plastics products that Sadara is producing in Saudi Arabia for the first time. The start-up of the PMDI plant comes just five months after the completion of its mechanical phase, said a statement from the company.

PMDI has a wide range of applications that include the production of insulation foams, domestic and industrial appliances, automobiles, airplanes, textiles, furniture, and more, it said.

The Sadara chemical complex in Jubail is considered the world’s first fully integrated PMDI manufacturer, combining manufacturing units that produce nitric acid, mono nitro benzene (MNB), formalin, benzene, aniline and chlorine, as well as hydrogen and carbon monoxide from an integrated on-site third-party producer, it added.

Al Labban said: “Starting up the PDMI plant puts Saudi Arabia firmly on the world map of major polyurethane producers.”

“This is indeed a significant milestone for us, especially when considering the unique nature and size of this plant and how quickly we were able to complete it,” he added.

Fourth plastics plant

Sadara, in April, also started up its fourth and final polyethylene unit, the high pressure low density polyethylene (HP-LDPE) train, marking a significant milestone for the company as it continues to bring its world-scale manufacturing facilities on stream.  The HP-LDPE train joins the two linear low density PE trains (PE trains 1 and 2) and the one Elastomers train (PE train 4), which came on stream over the last 15 months, to complete the company’s plastics plants.

Al Labban said: “The successful startup of the fourth and final Sadara Plastics plant is a milestone achievement for the Sadara team and illustrates the results of successful teamwork at both the company and shareholder levels. The products from the plastics plants will provide feedstocks which will support the development of secondary and tertiary manufacturing investments in Saudi Arabia.”

Each of Sadara’s four plastics plants has world-class capacity and flexible capabilities for producing highly specialised grades of plastic products. PE trains 1 and 2 produce a wide variety of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE) product grades, while PE train 4 is the first facility in the kingdom to produce Elastomers, a very low density form of polyethylene, and has the flexibility to produce LLDPE as well.

In addition to supplying international markets, Sadara’s products will be utilised for downstream applications by investors located in the adjacent PlasChem Park in Jubail, which is a collaborative effort between Sadara and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. Located next to Sadara’s chemical complex, PlasChem Park leverages advantages of the strong industrial and services infrastructure in Jubail, secure feedstock, proximity to growing and emerging markets, and a qualified local workforce.