Sahara Petrochemical Company and Basell Holdings Middle East GmbH today announced the signing of an agreement to construct a 450 KT per year polypropylene plant and propane dehydrogenation unit at Al-Jubail Industrial City in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The facilities will be operated by a joint venture that Basell and Sahara Petrochemical Company plan to establish in 2005. Start-up of the new plants is targeted for the end of 2007.

The agreement includes a license to utilise Basell’s most advanced polypropylene technology, the Spherizone process. The polypropylene from the new plant will be marketed globally by Basell. The propane dehydrogenation unit will be based on the UOP Oleflex process. Saudi Aramco will supply the propane feedstock.

“This is an important step forward in Basell’s strategy to establish world class manufacturing facilities in locations with attractive feedstock conditions and an infrastructure that is strong and reliable,” said Volker Trautz, Basell’s president and CEO.  “This is Basell’s second project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia again based on excellent cooperation with our partners in this undertaking, Sahara Petrochemical Company and the Al-Zamil Group of companies.”

Trautz said Basell’s excellent experience in establishing Saudi Polyolefins Company, a joint venture with the National Petrochemical Industrialization Company (Tasnee Petrochemicals) that started up at the beginning of this year, was a factor in the company’s decision to pursue additional projects in the Kingdom.

Ian Dunn, president of Basell International, said Basell is well prepared to market the output from the new Spherizone process PP plant. “Basell is the leading polypropylene marketer in the world with an annual volume of 8 million tonnes, including its joint ventures, and with marketing experience in more than 120 countries,” Dunn said. “Our global marketing presence and expertise is a key strength of Basell, and we are delighted to be able to combine this with the strengths of our new partners.”

“Spherizone technology is the most significant breakthrough since the launch of the Spheripol process 20 years ago,” said Just Jansz, president of Basell’s Technology Business. “The Spherizone process offers the benefit of expanded product capabilities and enhanced performance for a range of applications at reduced operating costs. I am particularly happy that one year after announcing that this new technology is available for commercial licensing, the aggregate capacity licensed to date has already reached one million tonnes.”

In addition to being the world's largest producer of polypropylene, Basell is the largest producer of advanced polyolefin products, a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts, and a global leader in the development and licensing of polypropylene and polyethylene processes. Basell, together with its joint ventures, has manufacturing facilities around the world and sells products in more than 120 countries. Additional information about Basell is available at www.basell.com.

For more information contact Michelle Talmo, Basell Corporate Communications, at +1 410 996 1366, +1 302 438 6574 or michelle.talmo@basell.com