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Decreased Demand, Global Market Conditions Affect Saudi SABIC Financial Results

SABIC CEO speaking to journalists during Thursday’s press conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SABIC CEO speaking to journalists during Thursday’s press conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Decreased Demand, Global Market Conditions Affect Saudi SABIC Financial Results

SABIC CEO speaking to journalists during Thursday’s press conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)
SABIC CEO speaking to journalists during Thursday’s press conference (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The financial results of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) - the largest producer of petrochemicals, fertilizers and steel in the Middle East - revealed that the company’s performance was affected during the second quarter of 2023 by the conditions of the global chemical markets and the decline in demand.

The company recorded an 85 percent decline in profits on an annual basis in the second quarter of this year, registering SAR 1.18 billion ($314.5 million), compared to SAR 7.93 billion ($2.1 billion) in the same quarter of 2022.

“The global economy is continuously slowing down as a result of tightening monetary policies to confront inflation, leading to weaker demand,” said Abdulrahman Al Fageeh, chief executive of SABIC.

He added: “In the second quarter, we maintained our sales volume despite the challenging economic environment with increased supply of our main products. We achieved the minimum target of our synergies with Saudi Aramco two years ahead of time by reaching $1.51 billion on a cumulative basis.”

According to the CEO, “the company is committed to innovation and sustainability as two main pillars of our growth.”

Al-Fageeh noted that in the second quarter, Sabic completed a project to convert oil from plastic waste into certified circular polymers, becoming the first company in the Middle East and North Africa region to adopt this method.

He added that the company has completed sending the first approved commercial shipments of low-carbon ammonia to India and Taiwan, which confirms its keenness to provide value solutions to customers and markets to achieve net zero emissions.

Over the course of the second quarter of 2023, Sabic announced many agreements and strategic developments that support the company’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality, and its vision of becoming the preferred global leader in chemicals.

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US Economy Grew at Solid 3% Rate Last Quarter, Government Says in Final Estimate

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
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US Economy Grew at Solid 3% Rate Last Quarter, Government Says in Final Estimate

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
FILE - The New York Stock Exchange, at rear, is shown on Sept. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

The American economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual pace from April through June, boosted by strong consumer spending and business investment, the government said Thursday, leaving its previous estimate unchanged.
The Commerce Department reported that the nation's gross domestic product — the nation's total output of goods and services — picked up sharply in the second quarter from the tepid 1.6% annual rate in the first three months of the year, The Associated Press reported.
Consumer spending, the primary driver of the economy, grew last quarter at a 2.8% pace, down slightly from the 2.9% rate the government had previously estimated. Business investment was also solid: It increased at a vigorous 8.3% annual pace last quarter, led by a 9.8% rise in investment in equipment.
The final GDP estimate for the April-June quarter included figures showing that inflation continues to ease, to just above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The central bank’s favored inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — rose at a 2.5% annual rate last quarter, down from 3% in the first quarter of the year. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation grew at a 2.8% pace, down from 3.7% from January through March.
The US economy, the world's biggest, displayed remarkable resilience in the face of the 11 interest rate hikes the Fed carried out in 2022 and 2023 to fight the worst bout of inflation in four decades. Since peaking at 9.1% in mid-2022, annual inflation as measured by the consumer price index has tumbled to 2.5%.
Despite the surge in borrowing rates, the economy kept growing and employers kept hiring. Still, the job market has shown signs of weakness in recent months. From June through August, America's employers added an average of just 116,000 jobs a month, the lowest three-month average since mid-2020, when the COVID pandemic had paralyzed the economy. The unemployment rate has ticked up from a half-century low 3.4% last year to 4.2%, still relatively low.
Last week, responding to the steady drop in inflation and growing evidence of a more sluggish job market, the Fed cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point. The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflected its new focus on shoring up the job market now that inflation has largely been tamed.
Some other barometers of the economy still look healthy. Americans last month increased their spending at retailers, for example, suggesting that consumers are still able and willing to spend more despite the cumulative impact of three years of excess inflation and high borrowing rates. The nation’s industrial production rebounded. The pace of single-family-home construction rose sharply from the pace a year earlier.
And this month, consumer sentiment rose for a third straight month, according to preliminary figures from the University of Michigan. The brighter outlook was driven by “more favorable prices as perceived by consumers” for cars, appliances, furniture and other long-lasting goods.
A category within GDP that measures the economy’s underlying strength rose at a healthy 2.7% annual rate, though that was down from 2.9% in the first quarter. This category includes consumer spending and private investment but excludes volatile items like exports, inventories and government spending.
Though the Fed now believes inflation is largely defeated, many Americans remain upset with still-high prices for groceries, gas, rent and other necessities. Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for sparking an inflationary surge. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers even further.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department also issued revisions to previous GDP estimates. From 2018 through 2023, growth was mostly higher — an average annual rate of 2.3%, up from a previously reported 2.1% — largely because of upward revisions to consumer spending. The revisions showed that GDP grew 2.9% last year, up from the 2.5% previously reported.
Thursday’s report was the government’s third and final estimate of GDP growth for the April-June quarter. It will release its initial estimate of July-September GDP growth on Oct. 30.