| SABIC
announces SRI.396 billion profit in Q1 2003
Posted: 20 April 2003
358 per cent rise on Q1 2002 profits
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Basic Industries
Corporation (SABIC) today reported first quarter profits of SR1.396
billion (US$372.2 million), an increase of 358 per cent compared
to the same period in 2002.
Production volume in the first quarter increased to 10.4 million
metric tons, an increase of 21 per cent over the same period in
2002. Sales volume for the first quarter was 7.4 million metric
tons, an increase of 10 per cent over the Q1 2002 sales figures.
SABIC’s Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mohamed Al-Mady
said, “Continuing the positive trend seen at the end of 2002,
a sustained increase in sales volumes and product prices has contributed
to these impressive figures.”
Al-Mady continued: “Two of the highlights for Q1 include
SABIC’s joint acquisition with Sud-Chemie of Scientific Design
Company Inc. from Linde AG; and the recent implementation of the
SAP (Systems Applications Products) software at our Eastern Petrochemical
Company (SHARQ) affiliate.
“With these financial results we are very optimistic about
the rest of 2003, and SABIC’s goal to become one of the top
five petrochemical companies in the world” he said.
About SABIC
The Middle East’s largest petrochemicals company, SABIC, is
based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It was founded in 1976, when the Saudi Arabian Government decided
to use hydrocarbon gases released in the production of oil as raw
material for the production of chemicals, polymers and fertilizers.
The Saudi Arabian Government owns 70% of SABIC shares, with the
remaining 30% held by private investors in Saudi Arabia and other
countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
SABIC’s business activities have been restructured and a new
management model became effective on 1 September 2002. There are
now six Strategic Business Units (SBUs): Basic Chemicals; Intermediates;
Polyolefins; PVC & Polyester; Fertilizers and Metals. Supporting
all these functions is a corporate core consisting Human Resources;
Corporate Finance; Corporate Control and Research & Technology.
A Shared Services Organization will become operational in 2003.
SABIC has two large industrial sites in Saudi Arabia – Al-Jubail
and Yanbu – with sixteen world-scale production complexes.
Some of these production complexes are operated with multi-national
partners such as Exxon Mobil, Shell, Fortum, Ecofuel/ENI and Mitsubishi
Chemicals. In addition, SABIC has interests in three production
complexes in Bahrain. Over the last 16 years, SABIC’s overall
production capacity has increased considerably. In 2002 it amounted
to 40.6 million metric tons.
SABIC EuroPetrochemicals owns two petrochemical production sites
in Geleen (Netherlands) and Gelsenkirchen (Germany) for the production,
marketing and sales of polypropylenes, polyethylenes and hydrocarbons.
They annually sell about 2.6 million tonnes of polymers, mainly
in Europe. About 2,300 people are employed at SABIC EuroPetrochemicals.
SABIC employs over 16,000 people worldwide, most of whom are based
in Saudi Arabia. In 2002 SABIC posted sales of approximately SR34bn
(US$9.06bn) and a net profit of approximately SR2.84bn (US$758.4m).
Posted by Richard Price,
Editor Pipeline Magazine
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