Rabigh, Saudi Arabia – Petro Rabigh has achieved “on-spec” production at its aromatics and ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) units, the company announced 28 March.
The units, which are part of Petro Rabigh phase II project, are the last two facilities to start production at the site.
The Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo Chemical 75,000-tonne rubber JV announced the start-up of 10 other units earlier this year.
“Upon completion of all Phase II plants, both phases I and II will be integrated operationally within the Petro Rabigh industrial complex,” the company said 7 Jan.
By the end of December 2017, the company had achieved on-spec production at the units for cumene, phenol, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE)/isobutylene, metathesis, methyl methacrylate (MMA), naphtha reformer, poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), low density polyethylene/ (LDPE), thermo plastic olefin (TPO) and nylon 6 (polyamide 6).
In February, Arlanxeo, another Saudi Aramco rubber JV announced that it would to supply EPDM rubber made at the Petro Rabigh site.
The Lanxess-Aramco JV said products from the EPDM unit – currently in start-up phase – will be supplied from the first half of this year, under a global sales & marketing agreement with Dhahran-based Saudi Aramco Products Trading Co.
Arlanxeo will sell the new EPDM grades under its own Keltan trademark, with ‘KSA’ added to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
