Rohm and Haas forms Saudi acrylic monomer JV

LONDON (ICIS news)–Rohm and Haas and Tasnee and Sahara Olefins Co (TSOC) have formed a joint venture to produce acrylic monomers in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday.

The JV, called Saudi Acrylic Monomer Co, is to build a plant with capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year of acrylic acid and related esters expected online at the beginning of 2011, the companies said.

“Saudi Acrylic Monomer Co will be 75% owned by TSOC; 25% by Rohm and Hass,” the statement said, adding that Rohm and Haas would invest approximately $50m as well as license its technology to the new plant.

The acrylic acid and esters produced will be used primarily as feedstock for Rohm and Haas’s water-based acrylic products, although TSOC will have rights to sell exclusively sell acrylic acid products within the six Gulf Cooperation Council region.

The plant will employ 225 people when it is completed, the company added.

“This joint venture demonstrates our commitment to secure monomers at the right place and at the right time,” said Rohm and Haas primary materials’ vice-president and business director Carol Eicher.

She added this was the first downstream chemical project of its kind to be undertaken in the Middle East.

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