Saudi International Petrochemicals Company (Sipchem) has awarded the UK’s HSBC the mandate to act as financial adviser on the development of its $1.1bn polymers project at Jubail.

Several other banks are understood to have pitched for the mandate, including the UK’s Standard Chartered and France’s BNP Paribas. A source close to the project confirms that the mandate has now been awarded.

Sipchem began seeking a financial adviser for the project in February.

Sipchem is planning to develop a 200,000 tonne-a-year (t/y) ethyl vinyl acetate plant with production capacity of 125,000 t/y of polyvinyls. The plant is due to be completed in 2013, and will be a joint venture with South Korea’s Hanwha Chemicals Corporation.

HSBC is also working with the National Industrialisation Company (Tasnee) on a $1.5bn acrylic monomers scheme at Jubail.