PETROCHEMICALS

PETROCHEMICALS IS ON THE CUSP OF A NEW ERA

The Saudi petrochemicals sector has the opportunity to shape a new future for the industry, according to Yousef Al-Benyan, vice chairman and CEO of SABIC and chairman of the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemical Association (GPCA).

“We have long stressed the need for dynamic transformation in our industry and the pandemic has shone a spotlight on the successes of early adopters who moved ahead of time,” Al-Benyan said during a GPCA industry event. “But it also exposed the limitations of those who hesitated. The post-pandemic reality requires us to fundamentally change how we think about growth, innovation, and our operating models.”

“We can see that many forward-looking strategies adopted by GCC players have borne fruits, but there is still much more to do. Now is the time to drive the transition from a survival mindset to one that allows us to build, grow and thrive in the long term. We cannot delay the evolution and reimagination of our industry.”

SABIC is itself in the middle of a transformation and reimagination of its corporate structure. In April, Saudi Aramco, which acquired a 70% stake in SABIC in 2020, said it will transfer the marketing and sales responsibility for a number of Aramco petrochemicals and polymers products to SABIC, and move the offtake and resale responsibility of a number of SABIC products to Aramco Trading Company (ATC).

The companies said they will also review options for further global marketing and sales transfers across product-producing companies within the Aramco group portfolio.

“The transfers reflect our shared commitment to capitalise on the complementary nature of Aramco and SABIC’s respective product portfolios as we strive to create added value for our customers and shareholders,” said Ibrahim Al-Buainain, Aramco Trading Company president and CEO. “Together, Aramco Trading Company and SABIC are focused on providing a world-class products and services offering. These changes will place us in an even stronger position to deliver market-leading innovation and value.”

The Aramco projects that will be transferred to SABIC will focus on PRefChem (Pengerang Petrochemical Company Sdn. Bhd.); SADARA (Sadara Chemical Company); and, S-Oil Corporation (S-Oil Corporation, South Korea).

SABIC is also playing a global role in ensuring protection from COVID-19.

In June, SABIC, Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT, and US conglomerate Procter & Gamble (P&G), said they are collaborating in an innovative circular economy pilot project, aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of closed-loop recycling of single-use facemasks.

“Due to COVID-19, use of billions of disposable facemasks is raising environmental concerns especially when they are discarded in public spaces, including parks, open-air venues and beaches,” the companies said. “Apart from the challenge of dealing with such huge volumes of essential personal healthcare items in a sustainable way, simply throwing the used masks away for disposal on landfill sites or in incineration plants represents a loss of valuable feedstock for new material.”

Dr. Peter Dziezok, director R&D Open Innovation at P&G, said the group set out to explore how used facemasks could potentially be returned into the value chain of new facemask production.

“But creating a true circular solution from both a sustainable and an economically feasible perspective takes partners,” Dr Dziezok said. “Therefore, we teamed up with Fraunhofer CCPE and Fraunhofer UMSICHT’s expert scientists and SABIC’s Technology & Innovation specialists to investigate potential solutions.”

 

ELECTRIC CAR BATTERIES

In May, SABIC said it is developing thermoplastic-based solutions to help the electric car industry optimise the performance of electric vehicles (EVs), with the development of a plastic-intensive EV battery pack concept using a systems-engineering approach.

SABIC uses aluminium and other metals compared to conventional battery pack designs, which can reduce the weight by 30% to 50%, improve energy density, reduce costs, and improve thermal control and safety, the company said.

SABIC expects several large battery enclosures, moulded with its thermoplastics, to be used in the production of EVs as early as 2024. One plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) model in China is already using SABIC PP compound instead of aluminium for its battery pack cover, providing weight savings, expanded design freedom, warpage control and other benefits.

“Our work on vehicle electrification technologies extends beyond simply pairing materials to individual components within existing designs,” said Abdullah Al-Otaibi, general manager, ETP & Market Solutions, SABIC. “Our teams of experts take the complete EV battery system and vehicle structure into account so we can properly assist and enable our automotive customers to achieve their most critical vehicle development objectives.”