SABIC's New Specialties Strategic Business Unit Set for Stand-Alone Startup

A new stand-alone engineering thermoplastics business unit established by SABIC (U.S. office in Houston)  was set to “go-live” November 1, 2020. The separate Specialties strategic business unit (SBU), which will remain owned by SABIC, encompasses the company’s highly differentiated resins and compounds including Ultem PEI (polyetherimide), Noryl PPE/PPO alloys, and the broad range of LNP compounds and copolymers

SABIC expects that the establishment of the stand-alone model for the Specialties SBU will bring additional value to its customers who depend on the Specialties business for its innovation expertise and these differentiated families of resins, compounds and copolymers. The company reports that the process of establishing the corporate, financial, commercial and business structure of the stand-alone organization has progressed successfully. The Specialties business has been working closely with its customers, distributors and suppliers with the strong commitment to ensure business continuity for all parties during the transition.

In advance of the go-live, the Specialties business has undertaken a global reorganization to align required staffing with the strategic focus of the transformed business. This endeavor has been effective in bringing no impact to customers, while successfully retaining company’s talent within SABIC and limiting the instances of redundancies. Moreover, the Specialties business has deployed new fulfilment strategies to ensure the best support of its broad customer base. The business is focusing its resources and efforts on specification and is working closely with its customers and distribution partners. The anticipated capacity expansions for the Noryl and Ultem products are progressing while the company is adhering to strict safety precautions for its employees in light of the global pandemic. The expansions are expected to be operational in 2021 in the Netherlands and 2022 in Singapore, benefiting a growing customer demand with strategically positioned supply and shorter lead times.

The decision to establish the Specialties business as a stand-alone group of companies precedes the acquisition of a 70% stake in SABIC from the Public Investment Fund (PIF) by Saudi Aramco and it is unrelated to it. SABIC remains a listed company on the Saudi Stock Exchange, with its board of directors representing the interests of all shareholders and continuing to exercise its own robust governance practices.