BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, Oct. 27, 2009 (PR Newswire Europe) --
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- New 50/50 Joint Venture Will Build First World-Scale Organometallics
Catalyst Plant in the Middle East
Albemarle Corporation, (NYSE: ALB) www.albemarle.com, a global leader in
the production of innovative specialty catalysts, announced today that it
will form a 50/50 joint venture with Ibn Hayyan Plastic Products Company
(TAYF), an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), called
Saudi Organometallic Chemicals Company (SOCC). Under the terms of the joint
venture agreement, the two parent companies will build a world-scale
organometallics production facility strategically located in the Arabian Gulf
Industrial City of Al-Jubail.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050801/ALBEMARLELOGO )
SOCC will be the first company of its kind to produce these products in
the region. The construction of the plant is expected to begin in the fourth
quarter of 2009 with start-up anticipated by early 2012.
The new facility will have the capacity to produce 6,000 metric tons of
tri-ethyl aluminum equivalents annually. Tri-ethyl aluminum is used primarily
as a co-catalyst in Ziegler-Natta type systems for olefin polymerizations.
The manufacturing joint venture will be established and uniquely positioned
to ensure the effective delivery of tri-ethyl aluminum to the region's
growing customer base.
Mark C. Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer of Albemarle said, "We
are excited to bring this enabling technology to the Middle East and we are
equally pleased to be doing so in partnership with SABIC, one of the world's
leading chemical companies. This new world-scale production unit will help us
safely and efficiently serve our customers while also providing a foundation
for Albemarle to capitalize on other opportunities emerging in the region."
SABIC vice chairman and chief executive officer, Mohamed Al-Mady said,
"This joint venture represents another step in our vision to become the
preferred world leader in chemicals.
