MOSCOW (MRC) -- Saudi Kayan, a Sabic affiliate, has reported an increase in net loss in the fourth quarter of 2019, citing lower average selling prices, which could not be compensated for by lower average feedstock costs, reported Chemweek.
Fourth-quarter net loss rose to SR167.41 million (USD44.61 million) from a loss of SR110.90 million. Sales were down 14.26% at SR2.259 billion.
Kayan’s full-year net loss reached SR636.770 million compared with a net profit of SR1.702 billion in 2018. Sales in the full-year were down 22.2% at SR9.536 billion. The drop in earnings and revenues in 2019 was due to lower average selling prices, and came despite larger production and sales volumes and a decrease in the average cost of feedstocks.
As MRC wrote earlier, in February 2016, Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co. awarded Taiwan's CTCI Corp. a contract worth USD94.5 million (SAR 354.4 million) to build a new cracker at its complex in Jubail Industrial City. Under the deal, CTCI was to manage the engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) for the project, which is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,904,410 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments increased from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,161,830 tonnes in January-November 2019, up by 7% year on year. Deliveries of all grades of propylene polymers increased, with the homopolymer PP segment accounting for the largest increase.
Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company is a manufacturing affiliate of the Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic, 35%). Saudi Kayan is the fifth-largest petrochemical manufacturer by market value in Saudi Arabia.
MRC