Korea's SK Group, Saudi firm forge US$595m S'pore JV

[SINGAPORE] South Korea's SK Group - the biggest investor and also builder of the just-completed US$2.4 billion Jurong Aromatics Complex (JAC) here - has, through affiliate SK Global Chemical, set up a new US$595 million Singapore-based joint venture with Saudi Arabia's Sabic to operate a chain of manufacturing plants worldwide.

The JV will start with a recently completed 230,000 tonne per annum plant by SK Global Chemical at its complex in Ulsan, South Korea, with a second plant planned for Saudi Arabia.

At the venture's signing in Seoul this week, the two 50:50 venture partners agreed to set up plants to manufacture a range of high-performance polyethylene products using SK's cutting-edge Nexlene technology. These include metallocene linear low-density polyethylene, and polyolefin plastomers and elastomers to meet the needs of diverse industries including advanced packaging, automotive, healthcare and electrical and lighting.