In 2014, SK Gas established SK Advanced’s plant in Ulsan, a joint-venture between SK Gas and AGIC of Saudi Arabia. The plant was constructed by SK E&C. (Photo: SK E&C)

SK E&C was awarded a $7.55 million deal to build a mega-sized Propane Dehydrogenation (PDH) plant in Saudi Arabia.

The Korean contractor said it won the order from a joint venture between SK Gas and AGIC to implement Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for the PDH plant, as well as utility and off-site facilities.

PDH is a process of producing propylene by removing hydrogen from propane gas.

The propylene produced is polymerized to make polypropylene. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, ranging from industrial materials like car interior and exterior materials to daily life materials such as kitchen utensils and hygienic goods.

Propylene is a key basic raw material of the petrochemical industry, along with ethylene.

The two companies did not hold a ceremony to sign the deal, but the deal was formalized by way of exchanging certificates of the signed contract.

SK E&C will implement the FEED work for the PDH plant, capable of producing 30 million tons of propylene per annum, in Jubail Industrial City, 600 km northwest of from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia for six months.

It is noteworthy that the latest project has involved SK E&C and SK Energy, one of SK Group’s subsidiaries, which have cooperated so far.

Through partnership, the two companies implemented a PDH plant in Ulsan, at the world’s highest operation rate, and they entered the Western European PDH plant market last year by participating in a PDH plant project in Belgium.

SK Gas invested in a joint venture with AGIC. SK E&C plans to make the FEED work of the PDH plant a success by making the most of the abundant experience and technological prowess the contractor has accumulated in the PDH plant sector.

AGIC, wholly owned by APC (Advanced Petrochemical Company), is the owner of the latest project. APC, established in 2005, is a listed company in Saudi Arabia.

The company owns a polypropylene plant in Saudi Arabia, capable of 450,000 tons per annum. In 2014, SK Gas established SK Advanced, a joint venture with Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) of Kuwait, which owns the Ulsan PDH plant, which went into operation in 2016.

SK E&C President Ahn Jae-hyun said, “This winning order has proved SK E&C’s competitive edge in the global market in succession following the 2019 winning of the order on the FEED work of the PDH project in Belgium.”

SK E&C plans to secure an upper hand in the competitiveness of the global PDH sector by successfully accomplishing the latest FEED work order, he added.

SK E&C, Daelim Install Tower Foundation for Turkey Canakkadle Bridge Project

SK E&C and Daelim successfully installed the second caisson, the foundation to support the tower of Canakkale Bridge in Dardanelles Straight. Following the successful installation of the first caisson in mid-May, they completed the installation of the second and last caisson.

Two caissons were manufactured over a 15 month period from February last year on the land around the site. A maximum of 1,300 workers a day and 9,000 Remicon truck-load concrete were utilized, and each caisson weighs about 60,000 tons.

The 47m high concrete structure alone almost equals the large theater of the Sejong Culture & Arts Center in size. A steel tower will be built on each caisson.

SK E&C and Daelim will construct and operate the Canakkadle Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world, for 16 years and two months.

SK E&C Places 5th in Construction Sector, Beating Daewoo E&C

SK E&C ranked 68th in a list of Korea’s top 500 companies, up 14 notches over last year and moved up to fifth place in the construction field, beating Daewoo E&C.

The corporate evaluation site CEO Score on June 14 selected the top 500 companies based on last year’s sales submitted to the Financial Supervisory Service last year.