Advanced Petrochemical adds Isopropanol (IPA) Capacity to JV with SK Gas

Saudi Arabia’s Advanced Petrochemical Company is planning to add a 70,000 tonnes per annum capacity Isopropanol (IPA) plant as part of its joint venture project in Jubail Industrial City, according to an Arab media report.

In March, Advanced Petrochemical’s subsidiary, Advanced Global Investment Company (AGIC) has signed a shareholders’ agreement with SK Gas Petrochemical (SKGP), a subsidiary of South Korea’s SK Gas Co, to set up Advanced Polyolefins Company to manufacture propylene and polypropylene.

The planned propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) complex in Jubail Industrial City has a design capacity of 843,000 metric tons per annum of propylene and 800,000 metric tons per annum of polypropylene.

“The shareholders agreement between AGIC and SKGP has been amended to include IPA plant,” Advanced Petrochemical said in its statement to the Saudi stock exchange.

The statement said the new plant would cost an estimated $80 million (300 million Saudi riyals), adding that the total cost of the entire project, comprising of PDH, PP and IPA facilities, is currently estimated to be approximately $1.88 billion (7.05 billion riyals).

The project will be financed 25% by equity from shareholders and remaining 75% will be financed by the joint venture firm through borrowing from lenders. The company expects the financial impact of the investment to reflect after the commencement of commercial operations in the second half of 2024.

The inclusion of the IPA plant is part of strategy to promote the downstream industry in line with the Vision 2030, the company said, adding that IPA is used in variety of applications including hand sanitizers, medical applications, electronics industry, etc.