SABIC pauses talks on US$5.2 bln petrochemical project in Dalian

24-Oct-07

After three years of negotiations, SABIC has stalled talks with its Chinese counterparts for a US$5.2 bln petrochemical project in Dalian area. No advance shave been made by SABIC in its talks with private firm Shide to build a complex, comprising an oil refinery and an ethylene plant in northeastern Dalian. SABIC, however, has been successful as talks make progress on another venture with Sinopec Corp about investment to the tune of US$1 bln in building a one million tpa naphtha cracker to produce ethylene in the northern city of Tianjin. Currently, almost 50% of SABIC's exports feed the Chinese demand. SABIC expects chemical prices to hold steady next year despite slowing growth in the United States.