Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) has awarded a contract to build a new $400m shipping terminal at King Fahd Industrial Port in Jubail to China National Chemical Engineering Corporation.

The award, which was made through SABIC's affiliate company, Jubail Chemicals Storage and Services Company, was formally made yesterday under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

The project involves building new storage, handling and shipping terminals at the port, which SABIC said would "enable the continued growth of the petrochemical and downstream industries in Saudi Arabia.

JCSSC is a joint venture in which SABIC holds 75% of the shares and Dutch chemicals form Vopak holds the remaining 25%.

The first phase of the project involves building 40 commodity and specialty chemical storage tanks, complete with truck handling and ship loading facilities for five berths.