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Aramco Inaugurates First Saudi Fiberglass Facility

A Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at the oil facility in Khurais, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
A Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at the oil facility in Khurais, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
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Aramco Inaugurates First Saudi Fiberglass Facility

A Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at the oil facility in Khurais, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)
A Saudi Aramco logo is pictured at the oil facility in Khurais, Saudi Arabia. (Reuters)

Saudi Aramco inaugurated the first fiberglass rebar plant in the Kingdom, which is expected to localize the industry and reduce steel rebar consumption, as a sustainable new corrosion-free material that could help achieve carbon neutrality targets.

Aramco’s senior vice president of technical services, Ahmad al-Saadi inaugurated the plant following a deal signed in 2019 by New Zealand’s Pultron Composites and its partner Isam Khairy Kabbani Group (IKK).

According to a statement, the facility’s launch is part of Saudi Arabia’s efforts to attract and localize the rebar industry. It is also in line with the efforts to achieve Vision 2030.

Saadi explained that Aramco has been developing and deploying non-metallic solutions within its operations for more than 20 years, noting that the use of non-metallic, advanced polymer materials has significant potential in multiple sectors.

“Moreover, technologies such as GFRP rebar, which mitigate corrosion and minimize life cycle cost, have potential to be the real game-changers for the building and construction sector in particular.”

IKK Group chairman Hassan al-Kabbani said: “We are introducing a revolutionary new technology that will start to replace the iconic construction material that has been around for over a century now.”

Meanwhile, the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) signed an agreement for rail container transportation services with Saudi Railways (SAR).

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, Saleh al-Jasser, SABIC Chairman Khalid al-Dabbagh, and SAR CEO Bashar al-Malik.

SABIC CEO Yousef al-Benyan confirmed that the project is part of the company’s contribution to achieving Vision 2030 by providing safe, reliable, fast, and environmentally compatible transportation solutions to serve local industries.

Under the agreement, SAR will transport SABIC’s polymer products by rail from the logistics facility in the port to the delivery point of the port of Dammam, and the point of delivery of empty containers to the logistics facility in the port.

SABIC’s global supply chain is cooperating with SAR to maximize the benefit of this agreement, including the increase in the internal rate of return, cost savings, enhanced operational added value, and meeting sustainability requirements, including fuel savings by 70 percent which will reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

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China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
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China Hits Back at US and Will Raise Tariffs on American Goods from 84% to 125%

An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura
An electronic board shows Shanghai and Shenzhen stock indices as people walk on a pedestrian bridge at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China April 11, 2025. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

China announced Friday that it will raise tariffs on US goods from 84% to 125% — the latest salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two largest economies that has rattled markets and raised fears of a global slowdown.

While US President Donald Trump paused import taxes this week for other countries, he raised tariffs on China and they now total 145%. China has denounced the policy as “economic bullying" and promised countermeasures. The new tariffs begin Saturday.

Washington's repeated raising of tariffs “will become a joke in the history of the world economy,” a Chinese Finance Ministry spokesman said in a statement announcing the new tariffs. “However, if the US insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”

China’s Commerce Ministry said it would file another lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against the US tariffs.

“There are no winners in a tariff war,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said during a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, according to a readout from state broadcaster CCTV. “For more than 70 years, China has always relied on itself ... and hard work for development, never relying on favors from anyone, and not fearing any unreasonable suppression.”

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday said China stands firm against Trump’s tariffs not only to defend its own rights and interests but also to “safeguard the common interests of the international community to ensure that humanity is not dragged back into a jungle world where might makes right.”

Wang made the remarks when he met Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Beijing. Wang said China will “work together with other countries to jointly resist all retrogressive actions in the world.”

Trump's on-again, off-again measures have caused alarm in stock and bond markets and led some to warn that the US could be headed for a recession. There was some relief when Trump paused the tariffs for most countries — but concerns remain since the US and China are the world's No. 1 and No. 2 economies, respectively.

“The risk that this escalating trade war tips the world into a recession is rising as the two largest and most powerful countries in the world continue to punch back with higher and higher tariffs,” Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital markets, wrote Friday. “No one truly knows when this will end.”

Chinese tariffs will affect goods like soybeans, aircrafts and their parts and drugs — all among the country's major imports from the US Beijing, meanwhile, suspended sorghum, poultry and bonemeal imports from some American companies last week, and put more export controls on rare earth minerals, critical for various technologies.

The United States' top imports from China, meanwhile, include electronics, like computers and cell phones, industrial equipment and toys — and consumers and businesses are likely to see prices rise on those products, with tariffs now at 145%.

Trump announced on Wednesday that China would face 125% tariffs, but he did not include a 20% tariff on China tied to its role in fentanyl production.

White House officials hope the import taxes will create more manufacturing jobs by bringing production back to the United States — a politically risky trade-off that could take years to materialize, if at all.