SABIC one step closer to approving Fujian petrochemical complex

Chemical manufacturing company SABIC has announced the final investment decision for the SABIC Fujian Petrochemical Complex in China’s Fujian province, in the Gulei Industrial Park.

With an estimated total investment of RMB 44.8 billion (USD 6.4 billion), it is by far the largest foreign investment in Fujian. The complex will consist of a mixed feed steam cracker, with an expected annual ethylene capacity up to 1.8 million tons, with a series of world-class downstream facilities, including ethylene glycol (EG), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), and several other units. The construction of the project aims to be completed in 2026.

Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC CEO said: “The FID is a significant milestone for SABIC’s business expansion and development in China. The project aims to support our goal of diversifying our feedstock sources and establishing a petrochemical manufacturing presence in Asia for a wide range of products, and the FID decision fully reflects SABIC’s commitment to provide solutions to our customers and maximize shareholders value. Building on this, we will continue to capitalize on our partnerships to expand our footprint and continue to contribute to the targets of Saudi’s Vision 2030.

The construction and subsequent operation of the project is using nine of SABIC’s leading technologies to meet our customers’ and market’s evolving demand for high-end chemical products for applications in electrical and electronics, artificial intelligence, smartphones, telecommunications, healthcare, automobile and advanced materials.”

The FID marks the second key milestone related to SABIC’s joint ventures in recent years, following the start of commercial operation for a new polycarbonate plant at the SINOPEC SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (SSTPC) joint venture in 2023.