Sipchem meeting local demand, eyeing expansions, says CEO

Saudi International Petrochemical Co. (Sipchem) is meeting the domestic demand for petrochemical products and complaints that some factories are not being adequately supplied are baseless, chief executive, Ahmed Alohali, told Okaz newspaper on Sunday.

The company is mainly focused on fulfilling local market demand and looks at exporting only surplus output, he added.

He also said that Sipchem, which is a producer of methanol, butanediol, acetic acid, vinyl acetate and other petrochemicals, is planning local and overseas expansions.

Meanwhile, Alohali said investment in petrochemical industries would be viable if raw materials are offered at competitive prices.

Some petrochemical firms do not obtain the required raw materials due to the current gas shortage.

Demand for petchem products, however, has recovered since the beginning of this year, Alohali said. Prices rose between 10 percent and 30 percent, especially after China’s closure of some coal mines and petrochemical plants.

Local petchem products can cope with competition of Iran's petrochemicals industry, which still needs more time to come to market, start producing and then ramp up production, Alohali added.