(plastemart) -- After a three-year delay caused by the credit squeeze during the global financial crisis, a US$1.56 bln financing package for Jurong Aromatics' new petrochemicals project in Singapore was finally launched with strong support from Korea. The coordinating banks for the project are ING and Royal Bank of Scotland. The borrower is being advised by ING. The US$2.4 bln project involves development of a condensate splitter and aromatics facility on Jurong Island, with production capacity of 1.5 mln tpa aromatics and 2.5 mln tons of fuel. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2011 and the plant is expected to come on stream in 2014.
The major investors of the project are Korea's SK Group, with a 30% stake, Chinese polyester maker Jiangsu Sanfangxiang Group, which holds 25%, Glencore International with a 10% share in the project, Arovin and Shefford Investments (equity investment houses based in India) with about 10% stake each, 5% stake held by the Economic Development Board of Singapore and the balance 10% is held by other minority shareholders based across the region.