Under the terms of the contract, EPC E&Cwill carry out basic engineering, draw up tender documents and assist the client with technical evaluation for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract on the estimated $100 million-150 million scheme when it is issued for bid later in the year.

The two-year project is aimed at expanding current capacity by about 100,000 tonnes a year (t/y) to 300,000 t/y by converting all polymer lines to produce bottle-grade chips.

It will also involve the installation of two new solid-state polymerization units to produce the bottle-grade chips from the debottlenecked polymer lines.

A number of technology licence holders including Uhde, and Zimmer, both of Germany, the US' Dupont Company, and Japan's Hitachi Zosen Corporation are understood to have been approached to licence their proprietary technology for the plant. Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) has a 70 per cent stake in Ibn Rushd, with the remainder held by local private sector partners.