scale multi-billion riyal petrochemical projects will further push the country's overall production capacity to 100 million tons per year (mty) by 2015, Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has recently said. A $70 billion investment is assigned to increase petrochemical output from 60 million tons per annum and the types of petrochemicals produced to double. According to a recent BMI report, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) alone is seeking to triple its total global output of all petrochemical products to 130mty by 2020, including up to 20mty of polymers. Kamil Al-Jawhari, project manager of Saudi Plastics and Petrochem at Riyadh Exhibition Company (REC) said with the ongoing large-scale petrochemical projects, the Kingdom's petrochemical industry will open huge business opportunities for international suppliers and technology vendors. "The building of new production facilities that aim to sustain the growth in production of various petrochemical products in Saudi Arabia, a much wider range of business opportunities have already emerged for international suppliers and technology vendors in the petrochemical industry," he said. He said REC is gearing up to organize Saudi Plastics and Petrochem 2011, The 10th International Plastics and Petrochemicals Trade Fair on Nov.28-Dec.1 at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center. The event will serve as a platform for business-to-business networking and marketing activities of key players in the petrochemical and related industries. "Saudi Arabia's petrochemical industry is on track to further strengthen its position as the world's largest producer of petrochemical products," he said. The forthcoming event will showcase brand-new products, services and concepts as the event complements the robust growth outlook of the country's petrochemical industry, he added. The trade event will be an ideal venue for international engineering companies, manufacturers, and suppliers of equipment, machinery and spare parts to showcase their products, services and the latest petrochemical technologies. Saudi PPSG, (the 10th International Packaging, Printing, Sign and Graphics) technologies exhibition, and Makinat Saudi Arabia 2011, the International Trade Exhibition for Industrial Machinery, Machine Tools, Equipment and Technology for Saudi Arabia will concurrently run with Saudi Plastics and Petrochem 2011. The event is expected the participation of country pavilions from a number of countries across the world, including China, Egypt, India, Austria, Italy, and the UAE among others, he said.
