Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and affiliates of ExxonMobil Chemical have signed a heads of agreement (HOA) and are planning detailed studies for a new Elastomers project at Kemya and Yanpe, their petrochemical JV.

The agreement was signed by Mansour Al Kharboush, Sabic vice-president, Specialty Products, and by Robert G. Hutchinson, vice-president chemicals, ExxonMobil Saudi Arabia.

The HOA defines the principal terms for the proposed multibillion dollar project including project scope, technology, marketing and feedstock supply.

The project would establish a domestic supply of over 400 KTA of carbon black,  rubber and thermoplastic specialty polymers (EPDM, TPO, Butyl, SBR/PBR) to serve emerging local and international markets.

This project, which includes a vocational training institute and product application development and support center as part of the scope, is aligned with Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Cluster Development Program which is responsible for accelerating growth and diversification of the manufacturing sector, including the automotive manufacturing industry.-TradeArabia News Service