Dow Chemical’s Middle East Joint Venture Achieves Commercialization of Plastics Franchise

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Midland-based Dow Chemical Co. today announced that Sadara Chemical Co., it’s joint venture in Saudi Arabia has achieved a milestone in the commercialization of the company’s plastics franchise. The start-up of Sadara’s high-pressure low-density polyethylene plan adds to the company’s mixed feed cracker and the three additional polyethylene trains currently in operation.

The complex located in Jubail, Saudi Arabia continues to make steady progress on its start-up commercialization activities, since Sadara’s mixed feed cracker, the largest single unit at the facility, began operations in Aug. 2016. The first three polyethylene production units came online in Dec. 2015, April 2016 and Sept. 2016, and each are reactor qualified and have met their license warranty runs. Thirty two polyethylene products have been qualified to date, serving more than 350 customers in 58 countries. Construction of all of Sadara’s 26 production facilities was completed in Dec. 2016.

“Sadara is a vital growth investment aligned to Dow’s long-term strategy to go narrower and deeper into our core growth markets,” says Andrew Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer. “The completion of this milestone positions Dow to strengthen our global materials science franchise by capturing additional consumer demand and extending our competitive advantage through industry-leading integration and feedstock flexibility.”

The remaining units at the complex are on schedule for a sequenced start-up throughout the year, including ethylene oxide, propylene oxide and their derivatives, and isocyanates. Sadara is a joint venture developed by Dow and Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco. The Sadara chemical complex is the largest ever built in a single phase and will create more than 3 million metric tons of performance-focused products and add new value chains to the kingdom’s petroleum reserves.