Saudi Arabia & KAUST - National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce

SABIC: The Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corporation
Reaching around the Globe
The Saudi Arabian Basic Industries
Corporation (SABIC) took center stage
internationally with its 2007 acquisition of
the General Electric Company’s plastics unit
for $11.6 billion.
“As a global operating company, SABIC
has a long-term strategic interest in the people,
communities, customers, products, plants and
technology of GE Plastics,” said Mohamed
Al-Mady, CEO and Vice Chairman of SABIC.
“This acquisition represents
another important step in
SABIC’s growth and diversification
to become one of the world’s
leading manufacturing companies,”
he added.
Established in 1976, SABIC is one of the
world’s five largest petrochemical manufacturers.
Described by industry media as “one
of the most rapid and coherent industrialization
developments of the 20th century,”
SABIC’s production has increased from 6.3
million metric tons (mmt) in 1985 to 56 mmt
by the end of 2008. Total assets in 2008 were
$72.5 billion, with net profits of $5.86 billion.
The company ranks among the world’s
market leaders in the production of polyethylene,
polypropylene, glycols, methanol, and
fertilizers. It is the fourth-largest producer of
polyolefins and polypropylene and the third
largest producer of polyethylene in the world.
SABIC operates six interlinked strategic
business units: chemicals, performance chemicals,
polymers, innovative plastics, fertilizers,
metals and manufacturing.
SABIC’s successful journey began more
than 33 years ago, when the Saudi Arabian
Government decided to use the hydrocarbon
gases associated with its oil production as the
principal feedstock for producing chemicals,
polymers and fertilizers. This was a bold,
visionary step for a nation that was growing
increasingly aware of the importance of diversifying
its oil-based economy.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the
fishing village of Jubail, along the Arabian
Gulf near Qatif, was transformed into a modern
industrial city by SABIC and
the The Royal Commission of
Jubail and Yanbu. The first joint
venture plant began production
in 1983.
Today, Jubail and Yanbu are
SABIC’s industrial powerhouses in Saudi
Arabia with 19 world-scale complexes. Some
of these complexes are joint venture partnerships
with multinational partners such as
ExxonMobil, Shell and Mitsubishi Chemicals.
During the past 30 years, SABIC has spread
across the globe, establishing manufacturing,
sales, research and technology presence in
more than 40 countries. SABIC Americas,
headquartered in Houston, is the flagship for
the company’s twenty-year commitment to
U.S. operations. “SABIC has deep roots in
America and extensive experience operating
in the U.S. as a leading chemical company,”
explains Al-Mady. The GE acquisition adds
more than 30,000 people to SABIC’S workforce
in the United States.
Addressing SABIC’s General Assembly
meeting in 2008, Prince Saud bin Thenayan
Al-Saud, Chairman of the Royal Commission
for Jubail and Yanbu, as well as Chairman of
the SABIC Board
of Directors, noted
that SABIC has
launched projects
such as the Yansab
complex in Yanbu
Industrial City,
S a u d i K a y a n
complex in Jubail
Industrial City, and
the Sharq and Ibn
Zahr expansion
projects, in order
to strengthen the
K i n g d o m ’ s
standing among
i ndu s t r i a l i z e d
nations
“Despite the global and economic crises,
SABIC has maintained outstanding levels of
operations,” notes Al-Mady. “SABIC’s total
production volume during the first half of
2009 reached 28.5 million tons, reflecting an
increase of one percent, while total quantity
sold reached 22.9 million tons, an increase of
two percent over the same period last year.”
Al-Mady emphasizes that “SABIC’s strong
financial position, its ability to generate strong
cash flows, and the continued efforts to reduce
costs and optimize operational efficiencies –
along with the new production capacities
coming on stream at YANSAB and SHARQ
– will have a positive impact on its performance
and corporate results in the coming quarters.”
SABIC CEO Awarded
2009 Petrochemical
Heritage Award
Mohamed Al-Mady, CEO and Vice
Chairman of Saudi Arabian Basic
Industries Corporation (SABIC), was
awarded the 13th annual Petrochemical
Heritage Award. Established by the
Chemical Heritage Foundation and the
Founders Club in 1997, the award recognizes
leaders who inspire achievement and
promote public understanding of the
modern sciences, industries and economies.
Presenting the award to Al-Mady at
the 34th National Petrochemical Refiners
Association (NPRA) conference in San
Antonio, Thomas Triton, President and
C EO of t he C hem ic a l Herit a g e
Foundation,noted, “The business of
petrochemicals is an increasingly global
one and no one knows better the challenges
and opportunities of internationalization
than Mohamed Al-Mady. As CEO of one
of the largest petrochemical companies in
the world, he has engineered SABIC’s
growth from a regional to a global industry
leader that is at the forefront of reshaping
the worldwide chemical industry.”
As CEO and Vice Chairman of SABIC
since 1998, Al-Mady oversees a global
business with 16,000 employees worldwide
and customers in over 100 countries. He
joined SABIC in 1979, the year it was
founded.
US-Arab Tradeline • Fall 2009 31