Muqrin to Open New Factory

JEDDAH, 23 May 2005 — Madinah Governor Prince Muqrin will open the new acetic acid factory at the Arabian Industrial Fibers Company (Ibn Rushd) in Yanbu on May 24. The new factory will have a capacity to supply 34,000 metric tons of acetic acid to the company’s purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants. Ibn Rushd is a joint venture between Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), which holds a 52 percent stake in the company, and a group of local Saudi Arabian investors, who hold 43 percent. A Bahraini firm holds the remaining five percent.