Pan-Asia's Saudi project to break ground next March

Pan-Asia PET Resin (Guangzhou) Co, one of the top three polyethylene terephthalate bottle suppliers in China, anticipates its $3.8 billion petrochemical project in Saudi Arabia will break ground next March and the first phase of the complex will become operational in August 2020.

The project, to be located in Jazan Economic City in southwestern Saudi Arabia, includes facilities for the annual production of 2.5 million metric tons of purified terephthalic acid, 1 million tons of PET, 200,000 tons of engineering plastic, 200,000 tons of thin film, 200,000 tons of polyester fiber and 5,000 tons of heavy equipment, said Lin Wencai, vice-president of Singapore-listed Full Apex (Holdings), Pan-Asia's parent company.

The project will benefit from its proximity to raw materials - with a large para-xylene facility operating in Jazan Economic City - and to the Middle Eastern and North African markets, with Middle East alone importing 3 million tons of PTA annually, mainly from East Asia, Lin said, adding that Saudi Arabia currently has no PTA production.