TASNEE: Selection of SGC eTEC for Saudi ethylene expansion

Saudi petrochemical enterprise National Industrialization Company, also known as Tasnee (Riyadh; www.tasnee.com), said it has selected South Korean contractor SGC eTEC (Seoul; www.sgcetec.co.kr) to expand ethylene capacity at its Saudi Ethylene and Polyethylene (SEPC, Jubail) joint venture with US polyolefin group LyondellBasell (Houston, Texas; www.lyondellbasell.com).

The contract is worth an estimated USD 500 mn (EUR 460 mn). Tasnee will fund 30% of the project through its own resources and 70% through other debt facilities. 

Th company said work on the project in Jubail is expected to start in the first quarter of this year, with completion and commercial production scheduled for the first half of 2026. The expansion will lift ethylene capacity by about 18%, according to Tasnee. It did not provide actual capacity figures. 

According to PIE’s Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), SEPC has a capacity of 1 mn t/y for ethylene and 285,000 t/y for propylene, along with downstream polyethylene facilities producing 400,000 t/y of HDPE and LDPE each. Sister company Saudi Polyolefins has a neighbouring plant for polypropylene with a capacity of 755,000 t/y.

Tasnee expects the additional ethylene output to contribute an average SAR 200 mn (EUR 49 mn) to the company’s annual profits.