SADARA Chemical Company (Sadara), the largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase, has announced the production of commercial quantities of butyl glycol ether (BGE), which will be refined into several specialty chemicals that Sadara will be producing in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

CEO Ziad Al-Labban said: “This is yet another major milestone for Sadara made possible thanks to the dedication and hard work of Sadara’s highly-talented workforce. Over the next couple of months, we expect to start up our remaining manufacturing plants, steadily moving towards the realization of full operations.”

Sadara’s BGE plant is one of the largest of its kind in the world. The single-train plant, one of 26 plants located in the company’s chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II, will enable new manufacturing facilities to be established in Saudi Arabia, which will create new job opportunities for Saudis.

The Sadara Butyl Glycol Ethers plant produces multiple grades of liquid derivatives including butoxy glycol ether, butoxy diglycol ether, butoxy tri glycol ether and butoxy poly glycol ether. These derivatives have a wide range of commercial and industrial applications, including the production of industrial solvents, stain removers, plasticizers as well as agricultural crop protection applications.

Sadara is a joint venture developed by the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and the Dow Chemical Company. Sadara is building a multi-billion dollar world-scale chemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II. Comprised of 26 world scale manufacturing units, the Sadara complex is the world’s largest to be built in a single phase and will be the first in the Middle East to use refinery liquids, such as naphtha, as feedstock. By using best-in-class technologies to crack refinery liquid feedstock, Sadara will enable many industries that either currently do not exist in Saudi Arabia or only exist through imports of raw materials. The adjacent PlasChem Park, a unique collaboration between Sadara and the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu’, will create more value downstream, generating unprecedented investment, innovation, economic growth and thousands of jobs. — SG