Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara), the world's largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase, has successfully started its first production plant, moving on schedule from the construction to the operational phase. Sadara's first product — Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) — was produced in the company's polyethylene plant using proprietary technology from The Dow Chemical Company. The plant is the first Solution PE plant in the Middle East and is designed to produce products for specialty applications such as the manufacture of food grade plastics, industrial and consumer packaging and health and hygiene films. Ziad Al-Labban, Chief Executive Officer of Sadara, thanked all those involved in making the Sadara dream a reality, saying, "We've made history! The successful start-up of the first production facility is a major milestone for Sadara, thanks to the great teamwork between Sadara's employees and with the support from our stakeholders and partners." The plant is the first to come on stream among the 26 world scale manufacturing plants that are being built in the Sadara complex in Jubail Industrial City II. "We are continuing with our commissioning and start up efforts to bring the remaining 25 units on stream safely, efficiently and effectively," Al-Labban added. Sadara has to date achieved more than 60 percent Saudization as construction of the Sadara complex reached 97 percent completion by November, 2015. Sadara is a joint venture developed by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and The Dow Chemical Company. With a total investment of about $20 billion, Sadara is building a world scale chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Comprised of 26 world scale manufacturing units, the Sadara complex is the world's largest to be built in a single phase and will be the first in the Middle East to use refinery liquids, such as naphtha, as feedstock. By using best-in-class technologies to crack refinery liquid feedstock, Sadara will enable many industries that either currently do not exist in Saudi Arabia or only exist through imports of raw materials. The adjacent PlasChem Park, a unique collaboration between Sadara and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, will create more value downstream, generating unprecedented investment, innovation, economic growth and thousands of jobs. — SG
