Jurong Aromatics Corp (JAC) expects to achieve full production at its $2.4bn (?.66bn) project in Singapore in October/November 2014, about six months after the project's completion, company CEO Mehdi Adib said on Thursday.
The project on Jurong Island is expected to produce more than 4m tonnes/year of petrochemical and petroleum products, which will all be under offtake agreements with shareholders, Adib added.
"Today's plan is to market 100% of our designed capacity to our partners and offtakers," said Adib, who joined JAC as CEO in May this year, when construction of the project began.
Set on a 50-hectare site, the project is expected to produce 800,000 tonnes/year of paraxylene (PX), 438,000 tonnes/year of benzene, 200,000 tonnes/year of orthoxylene and about 2.7m tonnes/year of petroleum products, including on-spec naphtha, jet fuel, low-sulphur diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
The aromatics project will use oil condensates as feedstocks for production, with consumption estimated at 100,000 bbl/day, said Lee Dong Kuen, head of plan and distribution at JAC.
The supply of condensates is getting better, while availability of full-range naphtha - the usual feedstock for aromatics production - is "very tight", said Lee.
It was a conscious decision for the company to "stay away from naphtha, which is a difficult market", he added.
Adib said condensates will be provided by its shareholders - SK Energy, which has a 30% stake in the project, and trading firm Glencore, which has a 10% interest in JAC - as well as UK major BP.
"I believe they will be sourcing these [condensates] from Australia and the Middle East," he said.
BP will provide half the required feedstock. It has an offtake agreement with JAC but does not hold a stake in the project, Adib said. SK Energy and Glencore will be equal providers of the remaining feedstock requirement, said Lee.
China's major polyester manufacturer, Jiangsu Sanfangxiang, is a shareholder in the project, with a 25% interest. The other shareholders are Vinmar Group (10.5%), Shefford Investments (9.5%), Thai KK (5.1%), Essar (4.9%) and Singapore's Economic Development Board (5%).
The offtake agreements with shareholders have seven-year terms that can be renewed, Adib said.
The aromatics project has a total of 11 offtakers, including some domestic companies in Singapore for the petroleum products, said Sean Sailes, CFO of JAC.
Jiangsu Sanfangxiang will be the biggest offtaker of PX at 250,000 tonnes/year, representing 31% of total output, while SK Energy will take 215,000 tonnes of the material from JAC.
JAC secured financing for 60% of the project's cost in April this year, while 40% will be equity funded. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project is set for 26 August.
($1 = ?.69)
