Saudi petrochemicals firms should merge to boost their competitiveness and look to expand abroad, the head of the major industry player Sabic said on Monday.
The firms have enjoyed decades of cheap feedstock prices. But Saudi authorities began slashing subsidies in 2016, as a collapse in oil prices cut into state finances, prompting a search for efficiencies in the industry.
"This programme is clearly defined to push companies for more efficiencies and bring them into a mode where they become more competitive with the global players," Sabic's chief executive Yousef Al Benyan said.
Other Saudi petrochemicals firms should "look at ways and means to consolidate", he said.
"If 2020 comes and you are not really a player with a global footprint ... and you don't market your own product, I think it will be very difficult for you to maintain competitive positions."
Sabic, the world's fourth-biggest petrochemicals company and which reported a 10.7 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit on Sunday, has already begun this process, completing an acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent stake in its Sadaf project from Shell Arabia in August.
It is also considering integrating three affiliates, Safco, Ibn Al Baytar and Al Bayroni, which are located next to each other in Jubail, eastern Saudi Arabia. The companies can share feedstock, maintenance and leadership costs, said Mr Al Benyan.
Sabic is looking at possible acquisitions in North America, China and Africa in both the speciality and commodities portfolios, he said, but declined to elaborate.
He said in May Sabic was evaluating opportunities in the range of US$3 billion to $6bn.
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Sabic posted its biggest profit since the second quarter of 2015 this quarter, as a recovery in crude prices buoyed earnings.
Sales prices for core products were up an average of 5 per cent and expenses were reduced, while losses at its restructured Hadeed division dropped by more than half, said Mr Al Benyan.
The company's outlook for the rest of the year and into 2018 was stable, he added.
"We have stability in crude oil prices, we have stability in GDP growth. I think this is very positive now, looking at 2018. I think 2018 will be more or less like 2017 for us," he said.
Sabic is also looking to expand globally to diversify feedstock inputs and shield itself from oil price fluctuations.
Plans to build a polycarbonate plant with the Chinese state oil firm Sinopec are moving ahead in China, where 70 per cent of demand for the product is expected to be, said Mr Al Benyan.
He plans to travel to China by the end of this year to finalise arrangements for both that project and a coal-to-chemicals venture with Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group.
Mr Al Benyan said initial plans for an oil to chemicals project with state oil juggernaut Aramco were to build it in Yanbu, on the west coast of Saudi Arabia.
"I think this is a very strategic location. You can strengthen your position to Africa, to Europe. Jubail still has an option to grow, but I think the west coast is going to enable us not to concentrate all our assets in one location," he said.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Specs
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Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
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The biog
Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children
She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career
She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence
Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
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Rating: 3.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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European arms
Known EU weapons transfers to Ukraine since the war began: Germany 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger surface-to-air missiles. Luxembourg 100 NLAW anti-tank weapons, jeeps and 15 military tents as well as air transport capacity. Belgium 2,000 machine guns, 3,800 tons of fuel. Netherlands 200 Stinger missiles. Poland 100 mortars, 8 drones, Javelin anti-tank weapons, Grot assault rifles, munitions. Slovakia 12,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, 10 million litres of fuel, 2.4 million litres of aviation fuel and 2 Bozena de-mining systems. Estonia Javelin anti-tank weapons. Latvia Stinger surface to air missiles. Czech Republic machine guns, assault rifles, other light weapons and ammunition worth $8.57 million.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
