Sipchem inks $373m loan deal for key project
Khobar, June 2, 2012
Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) said on Saturday its polymers affiliate has signed a SR1.4 billion ($373.3 million) loan agreement to finance the construction of a petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia.
The Islamic-compliant loan inked with Saudi banks - Riyadh Bank, National Commercial Bank, Bank Saudi Hollandi, and Saudi British Bank - will help finance half of the project's cost, estimated at SR3 billion, Sipchem said in a statement to stock exchange.
The affiliate International Polymers Company (IPC) is 75 per cent owned by Sipchem, and the remainder is owned by South Korea's Hanwha Chemical.
The plant in Jubail, due to start work in mid-2013, would produce an annual 200,000 tonnes of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE).
It would start repaying the loan in two and a half years on the basis of a half-year installment, Sipchem said.
South Korea's G.S. Engineering and Construction is conducting engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work.-Reuters