Companies interested in developing plots at the downstream petrochemicals park to be built next to the Sadara Chemical Company’s $20bn petrochemicals complex in Jubail are in discussions with Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.

Known as the value park, it is being developed to utilise some of the vast offtake expected from the Sadara complex.

“[Sadara] has been built with both the domestic and international markets in mind,” says a source from the kingdom’s petrochemicals sector. “The value park will play a vital role in adding further value to the products it will produce.”

Two of the companies are affiliates of the US’ Dow Chemical, which is a 50:50 joint-venture partner in Sadara with oil major Saudi Aramco.

Dow Wire & Cable, which produces coating and insulators for wire, is one of the affiliates along with Dow Water. Dow Water plans to produce reverse osmosis membranes in the kingdom.

France’s Rhodia is another company interested in taking a plot and produces several speciality chemicals and products, including engineering plastics such as 6:6 nylon.

The US’ Sterling Chemicals, which has been recently taken over by the US’ Eastman Chemicals, as well as Italy’s Manuli, are the last two companies currently in talks.

Sadara Chemical Company is the new name for the Aramco Dow project. It was also known as the Ras Tanura Integrated Project. The complex will produce over 3 million tonnes of chemicals a year when it starts full production in 2015-16.

Khalid al-Falih, Saudi Aramco’s chief executive officer, outlined the plans for clusters to be built around its petrochemical complexes in a speech he gave in December 2010 (MEED 10:12:10).