Sumitomo expects to get $7bn loan for Rabigh II plan

28 Nov '13

2 min read

Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. is expecting to get the US$ 7 billion finance approval for expansion of a petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia in the first half of next year, the company’s president Masakazu Tokura said at a news conference in Tokyo, reports Arab News.

The total investment of Rabigh II plan stands unchanged at US$ 7 billion, with an aim to start operation in 2016, Mr. Tokura said.

PetroRabigh, a joint venture between Sumitomo and Saudi Aramco, has an annual capacity to produce 18 million tons of refined products and 2.4 million tons of petrochemicals.

Both the parent companies of PetroRabigh agreed last year for a US$ 7 billion expansion of the Rabigh complex, located on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia.

Mr. Tokura said they are in negotiations with financial institutions for financing of Rabigh II project, and are expecting to get an approval in the first half of the next year.

Until then, however, the parent companies would be providing the capital to proceed with the Rabigh II plan, which has already begun.

In addition to expansion of an existing ethane cracker under the second phase of the Rabigh project, a new aromatics complex would be built, which would produce higher-value petrochemical products using around 3 million tons of naphtha per year.

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