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Aramco, SABIC Plan Strategic Organization of Product Sales, Marketing

SABIC announces first-quarter earnings jump and discloses a reorganization of marketing activity with Saud Aramco. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SABIC announces first-quarter earnings jump and discloses a reorganization of marketing activity with Saud Aramco. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Aramco, SABIC Plan Strategic Organization of Product Sales, Marketing

SABIC announces first-quarter earnings jump and discloses a reorganization of marketing activity with Saud Aramco. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SABIC announces first-quarter earnings jump and discloses a reorganization of marketing activity with Saud Aramco. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

On the same day it announced a plan to realign product sales and marketing with Saudi Aramco, the Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) reported first-quarter net profit of around SAR 4.8 billion ($1.2 billion).

Meanwhile, the sales and marketing for a number of Aramco petrochemicals and polymers products will move to SABIC, and the offtake and resale responsibility of a number of SABIC products will transfer to Aramco Trading Company (ATC) under a plan revealed on Thursday.

The effect of these changes, planned to be implemented on a phased basis during 2021 will focus SABIC on petrochemicals products and ATC on fuel product, said a joint statement.

“The transfers reflect our shared commitment to capitalize on the complementary nature of Aramco and SABIC’s respective product portfolios as we strive to create added value for our customers and shareholders,” said Ibrahim Al-Buainain, Aramco Trading Company President and CEO.

It represents the latest move to integrate the strategies of both companies following Aramco’s acquisition of a 70% stake in SABIC in June 2020.

Aramco and SABIC will continue to review options for further global marketing and sales transfers across product-producing companies within the Aramco group portfolio, they said.

The changes will drive further operational efficiencies, strengthen the brands of both companies and their combined products and services offering, and help to maintain competitiveness. Customers will benefit from improved product range and availability, ordering and points of sale, supply chain, shipping reliability, and after-market services and solutions.

“By leveraging and optimizing our complementary combined product portfolios we will create a one-stop shop for the benefit of our customers globally, including in strategically important geographies, especially across Asia,” said SABIC Executive Vice President Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh.

“These marketing and sales transfers and operational changes are intended to put us closer to market, driving greater agility and flexibility to deliver added value to customers and power their ambition,” he added.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.