Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic)  has signed a technology agreement with  Montefibre for a fully integrated world scale carbon fiber project in Saudi Arabia.

The agreement grants Sabic an extensive international licence for the carbon fiber technology developed by Montefibre.

Sabic will first use the technology for the new carbon fiber plant to be built in Saudi Arabia.

This plant will enable Sabic to serve the growing demand for carbon fiber and composites in such fast-growing markets as alternative energy, transportation and infrastructure, said a statement.

Sabic and Montefibre also signed a memorandum of understanding  for the companies to study the feasibility of a new carbon fiber production plant in Spain to be integrated into Montefibre’s existing acrylic fiber production site—and thus allowing Sabic to accelerate product development and material qualification activities with customers and end-users.

Once complete, the carbon fiber project is expected to establish a supply of more than 3,000 tonnes of industrial grade carbon fiber to serve emerging local markets in the Middle East as well as international markets.

Koos van Haasteren, executive vice president, performance chemicals, said: “This carbon fiber project will be the basis for the creation of a world-class carbon composites value chain in Saudi Arabia and a valuable extension of our offering of innovative products and services to our customers in key markets. We are looking forward to developing many new and exciting applications as we grow our ability to supply competitive industrial grade carbon fiber products.”

Emilio Boriolo, Montefibre president and CEO, added: “We are very proud of this opportunity of technical partnership with Sabic. Montefibre will bring in its experience and enthusiasm to help SABIC reach its ambitious goals.  I wish that the success of this initiative will result in  further collaboration between our companies.”

The project will also include the creation of a new carbon fiber product development center and composite plastics application development capabilities at the Sabic Plastics Application Development Center (SPADC) which is currently under construction at the Riyadh Techno Valley research complex at King Saud University.

Both the carbon fiber production plant and the SPADC capabilities are aligned with Saudi Arabia’s National Industrial Clusters Development Program to grow and diversify the manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia. – TradeArabia News Service