Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) said on Sunday that it had started trial operations at a new rubber plant it has built as a joint venture with a unit of ExxonMobil.

Trial operations had started at the carbon black and utilities unit of the Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company (Kemya) rubber plant, it said in the statement.

The financial impact of the facility, a joint venture between Sabic and Exxon Chemical Arabia, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, would be reflected in Sabic's results from the second quarter of 2016 onwards, Sabic said.

The project, estimated to cost $3.4 billion, is expected to supply over 400,000 tonnes per year of rubber, thermoplastic polymers and carbon black to serve emerging local and international markets in Asia and the Middle East.  - Reuters