SABIC, ExxonMobil to launch Jubail-based rubber plant by year-end

A Jubail-based synthetic rubber plant jointly-owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and ExxonMobil will start production by the end of this year, the Saudi petrochemical producer said in a statement.

The $3.4 billion facility, which is a part of the Kemya joint venture project, is expected to produce 400,000 tons of elastomers materials, which are used to manufacture tires, according to a report published by ICIS.

Driven by urbanization in China and Asia, the project is designed to meet growing demand from the transportation, building, construction, and industrial sectors.

The news came Thursday on the sidelines of the ChinaPlas Exhibition in Guangzhou, Asia’s biggest plastics trade fair.

The elastomers project will also supply styrene butadiene rubber, butadiene rubber and ethylene-propylene-diene monomer (EPDM), as well as thermoplastic, polymers, and carbon black.

Synthetic rubber project