The Saudi Industrial Investment Group (SIIG), an investor/operator in the chemical industry in Saudi Arabia, and Unibio International PLC, a biofermentation company, will build the world’s largest single-cell protein plant in Saudi Arabia in an 80-20 (SIIG-Unibio) joint venture to feed the world's growing population and improve food security.
Unibio welcomed SIIG as an investor in 2023. Since then, the partners have made significant progress preparing to build the world’s largest single-cell protein plant in Saudi Arabia based on Unibio’s patented vertical loop bioreactor technology. With its abundance of natural gas, Saudi Arabia is an ideal location to use Unibio’s unique fermentation technology to produce single-cell protein – Uniprotein – with natural gas as feedstock. As part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is looking to diversify its economy and create dynamic opportunities for its citizens through education, entrepreneurship and innovation. Unibio’s transformational technology and SIIG’s strategic aspirations mark a significant milestone by bringing the most sophisticated industrial fermentation to the Kingdom.
The plant will be located in Al Jubail and will produce an initial 50,000 tons of Uniprotein annually with plans to increase to more than 300,000 tons in the coming years. The plant aims to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependency on animal feed imports. The Uniprotein produced is expected to be sold both domestically and internationally.
Gas turned into feed
The plant will use Unibio’s proprietary vertical loop bioreactor technology, a continuous-flow fermentation process that replicates nature in converting methane into Uniprotein, a high-quality and sustainable single-cell protein for animal feed.
Uniprotein has been tested successfully in various animal species. Non-GMO, free from pesticides and fully traceable, it is approved for aquaculture in Saudi Arabia, for feed in the EU and has additional registrations globally.
The front-end engineering design (FEED) was completed last year, and construction of the plant is anticipated to commence in the second half of 2026, with commercialization expected to start in 2028. This facility will be the largest single-cell protein facility ever built in the world. A gas allocation for the plant has been received from Saudi Ministry of Energy, and a site has been nominated by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu. The project has also received strong support from several related Saudi government entities.
The joint venture agreement comes after a US$70 million investment in Unibio from SIIG in 2023. SIIG’s strategy to grow and diversify its business – will be accelerated by its investment in Unibio.
