SABIC Company Overview
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is a Riyadh-headquartered chemicals and materials producer established in 1976. Its current portfolio spans basic and intermediate chemicals, olefins, glycols, oxygenates, polyolefins, engineering and specialty thermoplastics, specialty materials and agri-nutrients. Key technologies extend from large-scale steam cracking and petrochemical conversion to polymerization, catalyst systems, specialty compounding and application engineering. SABIC materials serve packaging, automotive and electric mobility, electrical and electronics, building and construction, consumer products, hygiene and healthcare, industrial manufacturing and agriculture. The company's 2025 continuing operations were organized around Petrochemicals—which incorporates Chemicals and Polymers—and Agri-Nutrients.
SABIC's strategic position combines Saudi Arabian feedstock integration and world-scale manufacturing with global technology, joint ventures and customer-facing materials-development capabilities. The portfolio ranges from commodity-scale olefins and fertilizers to differentiated polymer and specialty-material solutions requiring formulation expertise, qualification support and regulatory performance. Its strategy now centers on three priorities: portfolio optimization, corporate transformation and accretive growth, with capital increasingly directed toward competitive core assets, selected Asian growth platforms, technology-led materials and operational improvement.
SABIC Company Snapshot
|
Parameter |
Information |
|---|---|
|
Company Name |
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation |
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Common Name |
SABIC |
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Headquarters |
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
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Established |
1976 |
|
Chief Executive Officer |
Dr. Faisal Mohammed Alfaqeer, effective 1 April 2026 |
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Ownership |
70% Aramco Downstream Company, a wholly owned Saudi Aramco subsidiary; 30% free float |
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Primary Listing |
Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) |
|
Ticker |
2010 |
|
2025 Revenue – Continuing Operations |
SAR 116.53 billion |
|
2025 EBITDA – Continuing Operations |
SAR 16.43 billion |
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2025 Adjusted EBITDA – Continuing Operations |
SAR 17.88 billion |
|
Employees |
26,000+ |
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Global Market Presence |
140+ countries served |
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2025 Production |
55.5 million metric tons |
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Current Reportable Segments |
Petrochemicals; Agri-Nutrients |
SABIC Business Structure and Competitive Position
For statutory reporting, SABIC manages two continuing operating segments: Petrochemicals and Agri-Nutrients. Petrochemicals combines the Chemicals and Polymers strategic business units. Chemicals covers olefins, glycols, oxygenates, aromatics and other chemical intermediates, while Polymers converts these feedstocks into polyolefins and higher-performance polymer materials. Agri-Nutrients focuses primarily on nitrogen-based fertilizers and associated crop-nutrition products. The operating models differ substantially: base chemicals and polymers depend on feedstock integration, utilization rates and global spreads; higher-performance polymers require more application development and customer qualification; and agri-nutrients are influenced by natural-gas economics, global crop economics and fertilizer trade flows.
SABIC's competitive position reflects the combination of large Saudi production complexes, proprietary chemical and polymer technologies, global technical-service infrastructure and materials-development capabilities. Its higher-value polymer activities depend on formulation, compounding, processing knowledge and qualification with customers in automotive, electronics, healthcare and other specification-driven applications. At the process level, proprietary technologies support products such as polyolefins and MTBE, while its innovation organization develops materials and manufacturing solutions across the portfolio. SABIC reported more than 10,700 patents and 148 new products introduced in 2025, illustrating the scale of its technology platform. Analystically, its differentiation is strongest where Saudi feedstock economics can be combined with proprietary process technology and downstream application expertise.
SABIC Business Segments and Revenue Exposure
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Business Segment |
2025 Revenue |
2025 Income from Operations |
Principal Activities |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Petrochemicals |
SAR 103.94 billion |
SAR 0.33 billion |
Chemicals, olefins, glycols, oxygenates, polymers and specialty materials |
|
Agri-Nutrients |
SAR 12.59 billion |
SAR 4.04 billion |
Nitrogen fertilizers, ammonia, urea and differentiated crop-nutrition products |
Petrochemicals – Chemicals
The Chemicals business supplies olefins and a broad range of downstream molecules including ethylene, propylene, butadiene, glycols, methanol, oxygenates, aromatics, industrial gases and specialty intermediates. The portfolio also encompasses ethoxylates, amines, isocyanates, polyether polyols and other building blocks used across coatings, detergents, construction, automotive, industrial processing and consumer applications. Its differentiation comes from integration with large Saudi crackers and downstream plants, established proprietary technologies and the ability to channel common feedstocks into multiple chemical chains. The business is increasingly focused on improving asset competitiveness and directing capital toward advantaged products and regional growth platforms.
Petrochemicals – Polymers and Specialties
SABIC's Polymers portfolio includes polyethylene, polypropylene, polycarbonate, PET and other thermoplastics, supplemented by specialty materials designed for more demanding performance requirements. Current specialty offerings continue to include high-heat and engineered materials; on 18 August 2026, for example, SABIC introduced a new ULTEM polyetherimide resin for smartphone structural applications, confirming continued activity in high-performance specialty thermoplastics after its Americas/Europe ETP divestiture. Competitive differentiation comes from resin design, compounding, processing support and application engineering across packaging, mobility, electrical/electronics, healthcare and construction. Polymer operations also provide a downstream outlet for SABIC's internally produced olefins and chemical intermediates.
Agri-Nutrients
Agri-Nutrients supplies nitrogen-based fertilizers and related agricultural inputs, with ammonia and urea forming the core production platform. The portfolio also includes differentiated products intended to improve nutrient efficiency, including stabilized, coated and specialized urea solutions. The business benefits from Saudi Arabia's feedstock and export infrastructure and addresses global agricultural and food-security demand rather than the industrial end markets served by the Petrochemicals segment. Its strategic direction includes improving the value of conventional nitrogen products while developing lower-carbon and higher-efficiency fertilizer solutions. The segment's substantially higher 2025 operating profitability relative to Petrochemicals also illustrates the different cyclical and feedstock economics of the two businesses.
SABIC Global Manufacturing and Geographic Footprint
SABIC's manufacturing center of gravity remains Saudi Arabia, particularly the industrial cities of Jubail on the Arabian Gulf and Yanbu on the Red Sea. These clusters contain interconnected affiliates producing olefins, polyethylene, polypropylene, glycols, methanol, MTBE, polycarbonate, elastomers, ammonia, urea and other chemicals. The concentration of crackers, derivative plants, industrial gases, terminals and technical facilities supports feedstock integration, shared infrastructure and export logistics. SABIC's principal corporate offices remain in Riyadh, while Jubail also functions as a major operational and technology center.
North America remains strategically important through Gulf Coast Growth Ventures in San Patricio County, Texas, the 50:50 venture with ExxonMobil. The complex includes a 1.8-million-tonne-per-year ethane cracker, 1.3 million tonnes of polyethylene capacity and a 1.1-million-tonne monoethylene-glycol unit, providing a competitive U.S. Gulf Coast production platform.
Asia is increasingly central to SABIC's growth configuration. Its China platform includes the long-standing Sinopec SABIC Tianjin Petrochemical partnership and the new SABIC Fujian Petrochemical Complex, built around a mixed-feed cracker with ethylene capacity of up to 1.8 million tonnes annually and downstream polyethylene, polypropylene, ethylene-glycol and other units. Europe remains commercially relevant, although the physical asset footprint is being materially reduced through the company's current portfolio-optimization program.
SABIC Mergers, Divestitures and Portfolio Transformation
SABIC has accelerated portfolio restructuring since 2023. The company completed the transfer of its Hadeed steel business to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in 2024, removing metals from the core chemicals portfolio. The transformation intensified in 2025–2026 as management classified the European Petrochemicals business and Engineering Thermoplastics operations in the Americas and Europe as discontinued operations, separating their performance from the continuing chemicals and materials platform.
The Engineering Thermoplastics business in the Americas and Europe was sold to Mutares for an enterprise value of US$450 million and the transaction completed on 3 August 2026. SABIC has separately agreed to sell 100% of SABIC Europe B.V., encompassing its European Petrochemicals business, to AEQUITA for an enterprise value of US$500 million; that transaction remains subject to completion conditions. The two actions materially reduce exposure to structurally challenged assets in Europe and parts of the Western engineering-thermoplastics portfolio.
Capital is simultaneously being directed toward advantaged growth. SABIC's new one-million-tonne-per-year MTBE facility in Saudi Arabia reached commercial production in 2026, while the Fujian complex was approaching start-up during the second half of the year. SABIC is also executing a company-wide transformation program targeting a cumulative US$3 billion recurring annual EBITDA impact by 2030. The resulting portfolio is becoming more concentrated around competitive Saudi assets, selected Asian growth platforms, differentiated materials and businesses able to clear higher return thresholds.
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