NPRA '09: SABIC to play major restructuring role - Al-Mady

30 March 2009 01:43  [Source: ICIS news]

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ICIS news)--SABIC will play a major role in petrochemical industry restructuring when the sector emerges from its current slump,vice chairman and CEO Mohamed Al-Mady said on Sunday.

SABIC’s balance sheet is strong and Al Mady said he expected the company to be a leader in petrochemicals. After the sector recovers from the downturn, “We plan to restructure the global petrochemical industry,” he said.

Al-Mady spoke after he received the Chemical Heritage Foundation’s Petrochemical Heritage Award for his 33 years in the industry.

In his acceptance speech, Al-Mady said he expected the current slump to last through this year and possibly into next. “The real economy is under stress,” he said, adding that he thought it would take a few years for the financial excesses of the past five years to be cleaned up.

SABIC was developing a strong corporate culture, he said and a “One SABIC” business model or a matrix encompassing the company’s strategic business units (SBUs) and regional operations.

Al-Mady said he expected the acquisition in 2007 of General Electric’s performance plastics business would be of strategic benefit. He admitted, however, that SABIC’s timing of the acquisition "was not good and we're being penalised".

The Heritage Award event took place at the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) 2009 '1505E00001832">'International Petrochemical Conference, which runs Sunday through Tuesday

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By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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