Saudi Basic Industries Corp said on Sunday an affiliate has started preliminary operations for a new 500,000-tonne a year polypropylene plant in Jubail.

Saudi European Petrochemicals Co, also known as Ibn Zuhr, is expected to start commercial production at the new plant in January 2009, the region's largest chemical producer said in a statement on the bourse website.

Ibn Zuhr now has a production capacity of 1.14 million tonnes of polypropylene per year, Sabic said.

Sabic holds an 80 percent stake in Ibn Zuhr and the remainder is equally shared by Arab Petroleum Investment Corp. and Italy's Ecofuel.- Reuters