Saipem nets contract to build $150m rubber plant in Egypt 

Milan, Italy – Egypt’s Ethylene & Derivatives Co. (Ethydco) has awarded a Saipem-led consortium the contract to build the country’s first butadiene rubber production facility.

The $150-million (€138-million) BR plant will be built in Alexandria, northern Egypt, and have capacity to produce 36 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa), Milan-based Saipem said 17 April. 

Saipem and Egyptian consortium partner Petrojet will lead the detailed EPC (engineering, procurement, construction) and commissioning up to start-up and performance-testing of the facility.

The scope-of-work includes a single train for the production of low-cis polybutadiene and related facilities. 

Ethydco launched the tender process for construction of the BR plant in March 2018, saying the project would take 24 months to complete.