Saudi Arabia’s Advanced Petrochemical plan to build a new propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and a polypropylene (PP) plant in Al Jubail.

Its 85%-owned subsidiary Advanced Polyolefins Company (APOC) has secured a Saudi riyal (SR) 3bn ($800m) eight-year loan from the Saudi International Development Fund (SIDF) to partly fund the project.

The planned PDH plant will be able to produce 843,000 tonnes/year of propylene, while the PP plant will have an 800,000 tonne/year capacity, Advanced Petrochemical said in a filing to the Saudi Stock Exchange or Tadawul on 6 December

Construction of the plants will begin in 2021, with commercial operations expected in the second half of 2024.

APOC is a joint venture between Advanced Global Investment Company, which is 100%-owned by Advanced Petrochemical, and South Korea’s SK Gas Petrochemical.