(Yicai) Jan. 24 -- Saudi Basic Industries Corporation said it will invest CNY44.8 billion (USD6.4 billion) to build a petrochemical complex in China's southeastern Fujian province.

“The complex is another centerpiece of SABIC's investment footprint in China and by far the largest foreign investment in Fujian,” the Riyadh-based company said on Jan. 22. 

SABIC, one of the world's largest petrochemical producers, has been increasing its investment in China in recent years. It started commercial operation of a new polycarbonate plant at Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical, its JV with China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, better known as Sinopec, in Tianjin last year, it pointed out.

The new complex will be built by SABIC Fujian Petrochemicals, a joint venture of SABIC Industrial Investment and Chinese state-owned Fujian Fuhua Gulei Petrochemical, and will consist of a mixed feed steam cracker, with an ethylene capacity of as much as 1.8 million tons a year, and world-class downstream facilities. Building work should finish in 2026, the firm added.

“The final investment decision is a significant milestone for SABIC's business expansion and development in China,” said Chief Executive Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh. The project will meet the growing demand for high-end chemical products in electrical and electronics, artificial intelligence, smartphones, telecoms, healthcare, autos, and advanced materials, he noted.

SABIC Industrial and Fuhua Gulei, which own 51 percent and 49 percent of SABIC Fujian, respectively, inked a deal on the project in August 2021 and got approval from local authorities in the first half of 2022. The complex's annual output could be worth CNY30 billion (USD4.2 billion), according to the agreement.

Editor: Martin Kadiev