The Saudi Butanol Company (SaBuCo) has received an approval from Saudi Ministry of Commerce and Industry to build $517 million butanol plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
SaBuCo is a co-operation between three Saudi petrochemical companies, which include Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company (SAUDI KAYAN), a manufacturing affiliate of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC); Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara), a joint venture developed by Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and The Dow Chemical Company (Dow); and Saudi Acrylic Acid Company (SAAC), owned by TSOC, an affiliate of Tasnee Company and Sahara Petrochemicals Company.
Currently, the partners in the process of executing agreements to further consolidate the partnership and business collaboration. The agreements cover several key elements, including financing, tolling, operations and maintenance, engineering and procurement, construction, project management consulting, and technology licensing.
The plant has been designed to produce 330,000 metric tons of n-butanol per annum and 11,000 metric tons of iso-butanol per annum. The plant is scheduled to be operational in 2015. SaBuCo stated that its products will support the continued growth of the paints and coatings industry in Saudi Arabia.
According to an earlier agreement signed in December, 2012, the new butanol plant will be located at Tasnee’s Petrochemical Complex in Jubail Industrial City and will also be operated by Tasnee. The plant will create about 200 direct and indirect jobs in the region.