China National Chemical Engineering Corporation (CNCEC) has been awarded a $400m deal to build a new storage, handling and shipping terminal at the King Fahd Industrial Port in eastern Saudi Arabia.

The Chinese firm was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract by Jubail Chemicals Storage and Services Company (JCSSC), according to a 13 November press release.

JCSSC is a joint venture of state-owned Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and Dutch port operator, Vopak which hold 75 per cent and 25 per cent stakes respectively.

CNCEC beat rival proposals from five other firms when bids were submitted to the local Sabic Terminal Services Company (Sabtank) in August. Bidders included:

• CB&I (US)
• CNCEC
• Hanwha Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Petrol Steel (Local/Singapore)
• Sinopec (China)
• Wison (China)

According to Sabic, the terminal will have the capacity to store approximately 250,000 cubic meters of commodity and specialty chemicals produced at Jubail Industrial City in 40 tanks, when it is commissioned in early 2015. It also includes truck handling and ship loading facilities for five berths. The existing facilities include almost 1.3 million cubic metres of capacity, which can be held in 77 tanks.