Update
01 April 2004
Kvaerner bags $150m EPC deal
Al Jubail: Gulf Advanced Chemical Industries Company (GACIC) has signed a lumpsum turnkey contract with Aker Kvaerner for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the $150 million butane-diol (BDO) plant in Al Jubail.
GACIC is an affiliate of Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem). The contract includes commissioning and start up services also for the 75,000 tonnes per annum plant.
Aker Kvaerner has been working on the project based on an early work agreement that was signed last March 2003.
BDO is one of the world’s fastest growing chemicals used in the production of polybutylene terephthatete, thermoplastic polyurethanes, elastic fibers, pharmaceuticals, solvents, plant protection, coatings and electronic chemicals.
Television complex contract inked
Jeddah: Minister of Culture and Information, Dr Fouad Bin Abdul-Salam Al-Farsy has recently signed a SR90.5 million ($24.1 million) contract with a national company for building the Jeddah Television Complex.
The project includes offices, studios, workshops, a 150-m tower, a power generation unit, and other facilities.
Hadeed to stop exports mid-year
Jeddah: The Saudi Iron and Steel Company (Hadeed) will stop exports by the middle of this year to focus on local demand, said a top official.
Commercial affairs director-general Ibrahim Al Rashid, quoted by the Arab News, said the company would not sign any new export deals.
“Hadeed’s prices are still lower compared to world prices,” the Arab News quoted him as saying after a meeting with construction contractors in Jeddah.
Hadeed wants to maintain the current iron prices, which have reached SR2,000 ($533.4) per tonne, the report said.
Quoting Al Rashid the report said, the company increased prices as a result of a rise in cost of raw materials.
Real estate sees dramatic growth
Al Khobar: The Kingdom’s real estate industry is undergoing dramatic growth with local and foreign capital competing for opportunities, according to vice chairman of the National Real Estate Committee of Saudi Arabia Shaikh Khalid Al Gahtani.
He said growth is pushing forward regulation of the industry, which will fuel investment, and provide a whole range of opportunities for the small to medium-sized investor.
