Polybutylene terephthalate plant of Sipchem commences production

Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) has announced that the polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) plant, owned by Sipchem Chemical Company, an affiliate of Sipchem, has commenced commercial operations. The plant is located in Jubail Industrial City. The PBT plant performance tests were completed successfully ensuring efficiency, capacity and product quality. The financial impact of full commercial operations will be reflected in the company financial results as of the third quarter of 2018. The total production capacity of the PBT plant is 63,000mtpa. PBT is a high specialty thermal engineering polymer used in many applications, such as for car manufacturing, electrical/ electronic products, and engineering plastic.

Eng. Ahmad Al-Ohali, CEO of Sipchem, commented that the commercial operation of the PBT plant, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is an important step in Sipchem’s expansion and growth strategy. The addition of the PBT plant will allow Sipchem to further realise the benefit of its integrated package of products and will strengthen the added value chain. The PBT plant uses butanediol produced by International Diol Company, an affiliate of Sipchem, as the feed material for producing PBT. Sipchem owns 100 per cent of the capital of Sipchem Chemical Company.