- Collaboration will involve setting up an elastomers-related R&D center in Dhahran Techno Valley, Saudi Arabia
- Dhahran Techno Valley Company (DTVC) is a wholly owned company of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Mineral (KFUPM)
- ARLANXEO seeks to tap into Dhahran Techno Valley’s expertise and leverage KFUPM’s pool of talented researchers in building an innovative elastomers industry
- Collaboration will build on Saudi Aramco’s broader chemicals growth strategy as a full owner of ARLANXEO
​​​​​​​
ARLANXEO today announced the next phase of its growth plans to expand its R&D efforts into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by entering into a collaboration framework with Dhahran Techno Valley Company (DTVC), a company wholly owned by KFUPM, the Kingdom’s foremost academic institution for oil and gas. 

Both parties formalized their intention to collaborate through a letter of intent. Pursuant to the letter, the two parties will seek to work together to develop products and applications relevant for ARLANXEO’s elastomers businesses. Such collaboration will be centred in a technical R&D centre to be established by ARLANXEO in Dhahran Techno Valley, Saudi Arabia. 

Donald Chen, CEO of ARLANXEO, said, “ARLANXEO will seek to leverage the technical know-how and core competencies of DVTC and KFUPM to support our efforts in building an innovative elastomers industry in Saudi Arabia. This collaboration is a natural fit for ARLANXEO as a member of the Saudi Aramco family. KFUPM as an academic institution has deep ties to Saudi Aramco in terms of R&D partnership, while DTVC has a long-standing reputation for pursuing innovative excellence and is home to a state-of-the art R&D infrastructure.“

Commenting on the collaboration, Abdulaziz Al-Judaimi, Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President of Downstream said, “this cooperation would give ARLANXEO the opportunity to capture the expertise of highly qualified research and academic personnel from DTVC and KFUPM, which could be an important contributor to the growth aspirations of ARLANXEO as well as Saudi Aramco’s broader chemicals growth strategy. Furthermore, this collaboration with KFUPM would enable ARLANXEO to accelerate development of growth opportunities integrating the strong feedstock position of its parent, Saudi Aramco.”

About ARLANXEO
​​​​​​​
ARLANXEO is a world-leading synthetic rubber company with sales of around EUR 3.2 billion in 2018, about 3,900 employees and a presence at 20 production sites in 9 countries. The company’s core business is the development, manufacturing and marketing of high-performance rubber for use in, for example, the automotive and tire industries, the construction industry, and the oil and gas industries. ARLANXEO was established in April 2016 as a joint venture of LANXESS and Saudi Aramco. On January 1st, 2019, Saudi Aramco, a leading producer of energy and chemicals, became the sole owner of ARLANXEO.                                          

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by ARLANXEO management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.