RIYADH: Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) expects to face challenges this year due to uncertainty over the impact of a global trade war on the United States and China, its major markets, the company’s chief executive said on Sunday.
However, the world’s fourth-biggest petrochemicals company said it has the ability to deal with such challenges and started to see stabilization in prices of some products after a steep decline toward the end of 2018.
SABIC reported a 12.4 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit compared to the year earlier period, missing analyst forecasts. The company attributed the fall to lower average selling prices and a decrease in the share of results of associates.
“We’ve seen stabilization for some of the prices, still there are some challenges ahead of us,” Chief Executive Yousef Al-Benyan told a news conference in the Saudi capital.
SABIC will continue to boost its presence in its major markets — the US and China, he added.
“We are part of the global economic system, we are always affected by challenges but we are able to adapt with these challenges in the best way.”
He said SABIC will continue to raise its presence in Africa, as it is seen a very promising market.
SABIC’s biggest shareholder, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is in talks to sell its majority stake to Saudi national oil giant Aramco <IPO-ARMO.SE>.
Benyan said he views Aramco’s move to “positively,” but further details are a matter for PIF and Aramco, which aims to become a global leader in chemicals.
He added the company will determine later if it needs to increase its 24.99 percent stake in Switzerland’s Clariant after the two companies decided to merge their high-performance materials businesses.
SABIC made a net profit of 3.24 billion riyals ($864 million) in the three months to Dec. 31, down from 3.7 billion riyals in the year-earlier period, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange.
That was lower than the average forecast of three analysts polled by Refinitiv, who expected SABIC to post a net profit of 4.92 billion riyals.
Shares of SABIC were trading 0.3 percent higher in late morning trade, recovering earlier losses.
SABIC results are closely tied to oil prices and global economic growth because its products — plastics, fertilizers and metals — are used extensively in construction, agriculture, industry and the manufacturing of consumer goods.
In 2018, US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI)futures slumped nearly 25 percent, while Brent tumbled more than 19.5 percent. ($1 = 3.7505 riyals)
SABIC says challenges remain, views Aramco deal positively
SABIC says challenges remain, views Aramco deal positively
- SABIC posted a 12.4 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit compared to the year earlier period
- Discussions are ongoing for growing SABIC’s business in North America
US pump prices surge as Iran war upends global energy supply
- Fuel prices jump over 10 percent as oil prices surge
- Analysts predict further price rises due to market conditions
MARIETTA/NEW YORK : US retail gasoline and diesel prices are soaring as the US-Israel war with Iran constrains oil and fuel exports, which could be a political test for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of midterm elections in November.
Fuel prices jumped more than 10 percent this week as oil rose above $90 a barrel, its highest in years, adding pain at the pump for consumers already strained by inflation.
Trump on Thursday shrugged off higher gasoline prices in an interview with Reuters, saying “if they rise, they rise.”
The president had vowed to lower energy prices and unleash US oil and gas drilling during his second term, but much of his tenure has been marked by volatility and uncertainty amid shifts in policies like tariffs and geopolitical turmoil.
The US is the world’s largest oil producer. It is a major exporter but also imports millions of barrels a day since it is the world’s largest oil consumer.
As of Friday, the national average prices for regular gasoline stood at $3.32 a gallon, up 11 percent from a week ago and the highest since September 2024, according to data from the motorists association AAA. Diesel was at $4.33, up 15 percent from a week ago, surging to the highest since November 2023.
Midwest, south feel the pinch
US motorists in parts of the Midwest and the South, including states that supported Trump, have seen some of the steepest increases in fuel costs since the conflict in Iran started.
In Georgia, a swing state, average retail gasoline prices rose 40.1 cents a gallon over the past week, according to fuel tracking site GasBuddy.
Andrenna McDaniel, a health care insurance worker in South Fulton, Georgia, said she was surprised to see prices skyrocket overnight.
“They jumped up so quickly,” she said on Friday, adding that she does not agree with the war at all.
McDaniel, a Democrat, said that for now she is only driving for the most important things, and feels lucky that she works from home so she does not have to drive as much as other people do. Georgia voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Trump voter Richard Soule, 69, a US Air Force veteran and a retired firefighter, said a little pain at the pump is worth Trump’s efforts to protect America.
“When President Trump went in there and bombed out their nuclear, and they just thumbed their nose at it, I believe he did the right thing at the right time,” Soule said on Friday as he filled up his Ford F-150 truck in Marietta, Georgia.
Other states, including Indiana and West Virginia have seen prices rise by 44.3 cents and 43.9 cents, respectively.
Prices may rise further
More pain may be on the way, analysts said, as oil prices continue to trend upward. On Friday, US oil futures settled at $90.90 a barrel, up nearly $10 and the biggest single-day rise since April 2020.
“Given current market conditions, the national average price of gasoline could climb toward $3.50 to $3.70 per gallon in the coming days if oil continues rising and supply disruptions persist,” GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan said.
The disruptions in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz, a key trade conduit, have boosted demand for US oil abroad, which in turn has driven up prices for domestic refiners too.
“The US has weaned itself off of its dependence on Middle Eastern crude, but obviously Asian refineries, and to a lesser extent, European refineries have not,” Denton Cinquegrana, chief oil analyst with OPIS. “That’s what you’re seeing happen in the spot market, because the demand for US exports rise, and so the price rise.”
Seasonal factors could add further pressure. Gasoline prices typically go up in the spring and peak in the summer due to higher gasoline demand and production of summer-blend gasoline, which is more costly to produce. Diesel fuel saw an even more aggressive jump since Iran began retaliating against US and Israeli strikes, significantly disrupting shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Global diesel inventories have remained in tight supply due to heavy demand for heating and power generation during a prolonged winter in the US and other parts of the world and a structural tightness of refining capacity. Sticker prices of everything from food to furniture go up when the cost of diesel goes up, as the fuel is mainly used in freight transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and global shipping, analysts said.
“In a world where buzzword seems to be ‘affordability’, that is certainly not going to help,” Cinquegrana said.
