Mady, SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, said: "A key driver for the project is Saudi Arabia's National Industrial Clusters Development Program aimed at growing and diversifying the Kingdom's manufacturing sector. He also noted that “AN and NaCN are very important chemicals for downstream diversification into Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Carbon Fiber, Acrylic Fiber, Acrylamide and others which serve various industries such as automotive, construction, water treatment, oil recovery, personal care, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, electronics, gold mining and many others. “In particular NaCN will support the local mining industry in Saudi Arabia,” he said. The Asahi Kasei Group commented that the new capacity, joined with their other production in Japan and Korea, will make them the largest producer of AN in the world at some 1.4 million tons per year upon completion of the new plant in Saudi Arabia. The three partners moved forward with studies and negotiations based on the desire to address the growing demands in the region and globally with the establishment of a joint AN project in Saudi Arabia with superior cost-competitiveness. --MORE
