Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) on Tuesday celebrated partnership in their new petrochemical complex at Tianjin, China. The two companies formed SINOPEC SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Co., Ltd, last year as a 50/50 joint-venture to build and operate the new facility. Built at a total cost of 18.3 billion yuan ($2.7 billion), the complex will produce 3.2 million tons annually of various chemical products, including one million tons of ethylene, as well as other downstream products such as polyethylene, ethylene glycol, polypropylene, butadiene, phenol, and butene-1. The million-ton ethylene cracker, along with eight down-stream units and all utilities have been tested and are ready to begin production by the first quarter of next year. Sabic's Chairman Prince Saud Bin Thenayan Al-Saud, said: “We have developed great synergy between the two companies based on our shared goal of providing high quality petrochemical products to the domestic Chinese market. This project will benefit us both greatly. “ Sinopec Chairman Su Shulin said: “The joint-venture ethylene project in Tianjin is another achievement of the constantly developing cooperation in recent years between our two global companies. It has set a new standard of collaboration between the two parties. Sinopec will, together with Sabic, jointly strengthen our current cooperation and maintain long-term strategic partnership-to make the JV an outstanding platform for the expansion of future cooperation and the development of our friendship with Sabic. In addition to the immediate expansion of local production, the complex will upgrade the chlorine-alkaline industry in Tianjin and promote economic development of New Binhai District and Tianjin municipality. Initial estimates indicate the JV project will support an annual GDP increase of more than four percent in Tianjin and trigger investment of an additional 100 billion yuan ($14.8 billion) in downstream and associated industries.
