Sabic has concluded an agreement with US-based Celanese Corporation for the construction of a 50,000 ton polyacetal (POM) production facility.

The facility will come at Sabic affiliate National Methanol Company (IBN SINA) complex in Jubail Industrial City, Saudi Arabia.

The engineering and construction of the facility is expected to begin by 2011. The facility is envisaged to go on-stream by 2013, using methanol already being produced by IBN SINA. This represents a key feedstock for the production of POM, an engineered performance chemical product specifically used in automotive industries as well as in mechanical and construction fields. It also has many other industrial applications.

The new facility will boost Sabic's position in the performance chemicals industry as an important part of its 2020 strategic plan. It also provides wider prospects for the Saudi national downstream industries to enter automotive and other advanced industries.

IBN SINA, which was founded in 1981, is a leading producer of methanol and MTBE.

Sabic owns 50 per cent of IBN SINA's capital while Celanese and an affiliate of Duke Energy Corporation each hold a 25 percent interest in the venture. Total invested capital in the project is expected to be around $400 million.-TradeArabia News Service