Downstream industries key to Jubail industrial city plans

21 March 2012

Downstream industries to be part of QPIC’s Jubail PTA/PET project, MEED petchems conference told

Developing value-added downstream industries is part of the long-term plan for the world-scale PTA/PET (purified terephthalic acid) project the Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC) hopes to build in Jubail industrial city, the MEED Middle East Petrochemicals 2012 conference was told on March 21.

QPIC chief projects officer Fuad Akbar said that the project would involve investment of about $1.2bn. The project, if approved, will use feedstock supplied by Satorp, the Saudi Aramco-Total joint venture that is due to start operating in mid-2013. Satorp’s output will include about 700,000 tonnes a year of paraxylene, feedstock for the PTA/PET supply chain.

Akbar said that QPIC is interested in developing industries that use the output of the proposed project to make downstream prdoducts. The project will also target export markets, particularly in Africa.

“This is a world scale investment that will tap into the Gulf and other regions,” Akbar said. “The logistics in Jubail are perfect for investment. The feedstock is available. The financing in SA is very promising and the tax is not complex. We looked at Kuwait, Sohar and Jubail and Jubail has been identified as the best location.”

QPIC is a Kuwait company that has invested in four Kuwaiti petrochemical projects: the original Equate Petrochemical Company; the Kuwait Olefins Company, which started in 2009; the Kuwait Styrene Company, which also started producing in 2009, and the Kuwait Paraxylene Production Company. This started in 2010 and produces paraxylene and benzene.

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