Ex-Im Bank approves record-breaking transaction In its largest job-supporting au ...

Ex-Im Bank approves record-breaking transaction In its largest job-supporting authorisation to date, the board of the US Export-Import Bank has approved a $4.975bn direct loan to Sadara Chemical Company for the export of US goods and services required in the construction of a petrochemical complex in Jubail Industrial City II in Saudi Arabia. According to estimates calculated from US Census Bureau statistics, the financing will support approximately 18,400 American jobs, 12.5% of which come directly or indirectly from small businesses, in 13 states. Among the approximately 70 American exporters involved in the transaction are KBR, ABB and Dow Chemical Company. More Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P Hochberg noted that ‘no other transaction in Ex-Im Bank’s storied history has supported as many American jobs as this transaction, and no other single transaction has provided so much support to small businesses.’ Located in eastern Saudi Arabia, the mega-project will develop significant downstream capabilities for production in the fast-growing markets of the Middle East. Sadara will be the largest integrated petrochemical complex ever constructed in a single phase and will comprise of 26 process units producing more than 3mn tonnes of ten major product families of chemical products and specialty plastics per year. The complex will become operational in 2016, and its products will be available in markets throughout the world.