Oman International Petrochemical Industry Company (OMPET) has agreed to build a Poly Ethylene Terephthalate (PET) manufacturing facility in Sohar, Oman.
An agreement to this effect was signed between the company and Sohar Port and Freezone.
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The proposed facility will be capable of producing up to 1.5 million tonnes of eco-friendly packaging materials and will cater to the global beverage industry, which is currently valued around $1.3tn.
Under the agreed terms, OMPET will lease a 330,000m² plot at Sohar to produce 250,000t of PET, which will be used to produce bottles for packing soft drinks and single-serve beverages.
The plant will be built next to Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company and will consume all of the paraxylene produced by Orpic’s Aromatics unit.
When completely operational, the new facility will create around 300 direct jobs and produce 1.1 million tonnes of PTA, the raw material that is used for producing PET.
SOHAR CEO Andre Toet said: "We are delighted to have finalised a deal with OMPET to lease a significant part of the port for producing renewable packaging materials.
"Demand for PET packaging globally reached 12 million tonnes in 2010, and this will continue to grow to around 20 million by 2019.
"While the processes and technology to produce environmentally friendly packaging have been around for some time, we believe that SOHAR possesses the raw materials, energy and ideal location to capitalise on encouraging market trends, and produce and distribute it on a global commercial scale."
OMPET is a joint-venture (JV) between Oman Oil Co, Takamul Investment and South Korea’s LG International Corporation.
