SABIC announced in a statement that it has signed a potential investment agreement with the Fujian government on August 1, under the auspices of the Saudi Ministry of Energy, to build an engineering thermoplastics compounding plant in China’s Fujian Province.
The signing of the agreement took place during an official ceremony at the ministry in Riyadh in the presence of Zhou Zuyi, Party Secretary, Fujian Province; Ahmed Al-Zahrani, Assistant Minister for Development and Excellence Sector, Ministry of Energy; and Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC CEO. Sami Al-Osaimi, SABIC Executive Vice President, Polymers, and Ma Changjian, Deputy Director, Fujian Zhangzhou Gulei Port Economic Development Zone Administration Committee, officially signed the agreement.
The new investment further underscores SABIC’s efforts to meet the unique requirements for differentiated innovative solutions from its local customers in China while strengthening its roots in the Chinese market and its contributions to the high-quality and sustainable development of the chemical industry.
Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC CEO said, “This investment agreement marks another significant milestone for SABIC’s growth in China and reflects our continued confidence in investing in the country. By creating synergy with upstream and downstream partners, the project aims to strengthen our supply capability in compounding products and serve this important strategic market with innovative and consistently high-quality material solutions. Building on this, we will continue to collaborate with our existing global and local partners and customers to grow together in China.”
The planned compounding plant will be located in the Gulei Port Economic Development Zone, Zhangzhou, Fujian. It will primarily produce pelletized LEXAN™ Polycarbonate (PC) and CYCOLOY™ PC/ABS blends for use in advanced materials tailored to the needs of industries including electrical and consumer electronics, automotive, and emerging sectors such as solar energy, electrification, and 5G. The site will include compounding lines, color development capabilities, and advanced equipment that will enable SABIC to work with its customers and partners to create new innovative solutions for engineering plastics.
In addition to the planned engineering thermoplastics compounding plant, SABIC operates a SABIC Technology Center in Shanghai and three compounding plants in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing, alongside operations in 17 cities across Greater China. The new plant is also expected to create synergies with SABIC’s two existing joint ventures – SINOPEC SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (SSTPC) and SABIC FUJIAN Petrochemicals Co. Ltd. (SFPC) – in the delivery of differentiated solutions and products. Building on its expanded footprint and continuous growth in China, SABIC will continue to leverage its strengths in manufacturing and supply while helping to strengthen innovation-led development for the chemical industry, not just in China, but across the world.