Saudi Organometallic Chemicals Company (SOCC), a joint venture between Albemarle Netherlands and Sabic unit Specialty Chem, broke ground on its new aluminum alkyls manufacturing facility in Jubail.

South Korea's Samsung Engineering is incharge of the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the plant.

The new facility, once ready, will annually manufacture 6,000 metric tonnes of tri-ethyl aluminum, a Ziegler Natta co-catalyst used in the plastics industry.

The project, a first-of-its-kind in the Middle East, aims to create a number of new jobs in Jubail area, said the US-based Albemarle, a leading developer and marketer of highly-engineered specialty chemicals for consumer electronics and petroleum refining.

Of this, 80 per cent will be reserved for Saudi nationals in accordance with the country's Saudization policy, it added.

Senior officals from Albemarle, Samsung Engineering, Sabic, SOCC and Specialty Chem as well as a number of regional customers attended the ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday.

In his opening remarks, Koos Van Haasteren, executive VP of Sabic Performance Chemicals, expressed his enthusiasm for the project and for the opportunity to collaborate with the partnering companies.

'We are proud of our partner, Albemarle, which has a proven track record of maintaining in-depth relationships with customers and a good record in social responsibility,' said Van Haasteren.

The plant, he said, was being built at Jubail to bring tri-ethyl aluminum production closer to the end-users, thus supporting growing regional demand.

John Steitz, Albemarle's chief operating officer, said the company was delighted to join Sabic in a venture to provide key catalyst raw materials to its customers in one of the highest growth regions in the world for petrochemical production.'

Khalil Ibrahim Ibn Salamah, SOCC's chairman of the board, described the project as a natural extension of the growth being experienced by the regional petrochemical industry.

Ibn Salamah also expressed his commitment to recruiting and training a local workforce to help operate the facilities.

Van Haasteren, praising Samsung's commitment to delivering the project safely, on time, and on budget, said, 'The construction phase of the new project was scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2012.'

Sabic ranks among the world's top petrochemical companies and is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers.-TradeArabia News Service