Saudi petrochemicals firm Yansab is investing $5 billion to produce 4.0 million tonnes of petrochemical products a year, said the company's CEO Mutlaq Al Morished.
Production is due to start by the second quarter of 2008.
The company, 65-per cent owned by Sabic, will sell its products in Sabic's traditional markets of Europe and the Far East, and will also seek to conquer new markets, he added.
“We have already started pre-marketing to sell Yansab's output which will include new products such as bi-modal,” said Morished.
Bi-modal high density polyethylene is widely used in the production of pipes. Yansab will also produce ethylene, propylene, polyethylene and glycol.
Yansab (Yanbu National Petrochemicals Company) expects to start making profit in 2010, less than two years after it starts production, he said.
“Yansab has a bright future. Costs related to investment, raw materials and to building up inventories are huge. So we expect the first net profits to emerge in 2010,” said the CEO.
Yansab last year signed deals with oil services company Technip to design and build an ethylene plant and with Japan's Toyo Engineering to design and build a glycol ethylene unit.