Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Company (Yanpet), a joint venture between Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic, PO Box 5101, Riyadh 11422, Saudi Arabia) and Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Co, plans to more than double production capacities by the year 2000, at a cost of USD 2bn. The expansion, for which construction will begin in 1997, will make Yanpet one of the world's largest petrochemical complexes, with an output of 1.6m t/y of ethylene and more than 2m t/y of derivatives.

At the heart of the project is an ethylene cracker with a capacity of 800,000 t/y. Along with a 260,000 t plant for PP, the complex will produce 535,000 t of PE and 410,000 t of ethylene glycol. According to Sabic managing director Ibrahim A Iben Salamah, the addition of PE capacities will be "an important aspect" of Yanpet II. The new cracker will supply propane and light naphtha as feedstocks for ethylene. The process will yield considerable amounts of propylene, which can be converted into PP.