SUEUN Provides $1 Billion PF for Saudi Amiral Project

Hyundai Construction Wins Contract... Second Largest Project in History

The Export-Import Bank of Korea announced on the 23rd that it will provide project financing (PF) worth 1 billion USD for the construction of the Amiral petrochemical facility in Saudi Arabia, which was awarded to Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

PF is a financial technique that bases loan repayment on the future cash flows of a project and raises construction funds by securing project assets as collateral.

The Amiral project involves expanding the refining facilities operating in the Jubail industrial complex in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and constructing petrochemical facilities. It is a project commissioned by SATORP, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, the world's largest national oil company, and France's Total Energies, with a total project cost of approximately 14.8 billion USD.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction secured the olefin production facility package and utility facility package for a total of 5.1 billion USD in June last year. This is the second-largest Saudi Arabia project awarded to a Korean company, following the 7.2 billion USD Fadhili gas expansion project recently won by Samsung E&A and GS Engineering & Construction.

Since supporting the refining facility project linked to this petrochemical facility in 2010, the Export-Import Bank of Korea has maintained a friendly relationship with Aramco. Utilizing this Saudi network, the bank issued a letter of credit intent to the client from the early bidding stage and actively expressed its willingness to provide financial support, paving the way for Korean companies to win this project.

The PF financing provided by the bank for the Amiral project will be used for payment of construction costs to Korean companies. As a result, approximately 600 million USD worth of domestically produced goods and services, including equipment from about 90 small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea, are expected to be exported, generating foreign currency earnings.

An official from the bank stated, "This project is a key cooperation initiative specified in the joint declaration of the Korea-Saudi summit held last October, and we expect it to respond to our government's policy to strengthen economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia through financial support." He added, "By utilizing the framework agreement (F/A) signed with Aramco, we will continue to serve as a bridgehead to enable Korean companies to win future projects planned in the Middle East."