SK Engineering and Construction Co., one of South Korea’s top builders, signed a multi-billion dollar deal to set up a large-scale petrochemical plant in Egypt, corporate sources said Wednesday.

The builder secured the $3.6 billion contract for the Tahrir Petrochemical Project as part of a consortium with its German partner Linde. Private Egyptian developer Carbon Holdings placed the order.

The plant in the Ain Sokhna region, lying on the western shore of the Gulf of Suez, aims to produce 1.35 million tons of ethylene and polyethylene per year. Both chemicals are used in a wide variety of industrial products ranging from paint to electrical insulation to ceramics.

SK E&C will be responsible for the polyethylene plant, worth $900 million. Work on this plant will start late next year for completion by early 2019.

The company said that besides being responsible for the basic design, procurement and construction, it has a stake in the so-called front-end engineering and design aspects of the project, as well as financing.

“Comprehensive participation in design and financing means the Tahrir project marks the first time SK is entering a project in the North African country as a TSP, or total solution provider,” the company said. It also said the latest order opens new horizons for the builder to compete in similar petrochemical products in such African countries as Ghana, Gabon and Uganda. Many African countries have shown interest in building up their petrochemical infrastructure as they move to industrialize their economies.

SK Engineering, meanwhile, said the latest petrochemical plant deal was signed in Seoul on Tuesday and was attended by Nabil Fahmy, Egypt’s foreign minister, SK CEO Casey Choi and head of Carbon Holdings Basil El-Baz. (Yonhap News)