Saudi Sabic Seeks To Enter Polyurethane Industry -Report

Thursday, Nov 11, 2010

BEIRUT (Zawya Dow Jones)--The giant petrochemical producer Saudi Basic Industries Corp., or Sabic, which is mainly owned by the Saudi state, said it intends to enter the polyurethane manufacturing industry when the opportunity arises, Saudi-based Al Riyadh daily reports Thursday.

This will complement the company's range of products, especially in the plastics engineering industries and will provide materials that are used in many industrial sectors such as cars, furniture, and thermal insulation, Mohammed Al Mady, Sabic's chief executive, told the paper.

Mady denied that his company was currently in talks to buy the polyurethane unit of Germany's Bayer, the daily reports.

If Sabic acquires Bayer's polyurethane unit or enter this industry by other means it can benefit from this investment in two ways: on one side some of its plants produce raw materials that are used in the manufacture of polyurethane and on the other it can use polyurethane in the manufacture of some products of its unit, Sabic Innovative Plastics, or sell it locally or abroad, he added.

Newspaper website: http://www.alriyadh.com/2010/11/11/article576359.html

-By Beirut Bureau, Zawya Dow Jones; +961-1-985 757; BeirutZDJ@zawya.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-11-10 0859GMT