Saudi Basic Industries Corp, currently the world's largest petrochemicals group is now reviewing its global expansion outlook. This is being undertaken in light of the economic situation in Europe according to Moahmed al-Mady last Saturday.
He made these remarks in a speech at a news conference after SABIC had announced plans for the layoff of 1,050 employees in Europe. Aside from the job cuts, it would also be closing down some operations because of low demand pulled down by weak consumer spending.
According to Mady, "SABIC does not do this because it wants to lay off people or shut down any plants, It does this because the situation demands it."
He added though that the European situation is a 'special case' and the continent remains as a key market for the firm even in these hard economic times.
Mady also accepted that the petrochemical market for 2013 would be similar to 2012. This comes after SABIC's report of a ten percent year on year decline of its first quarter net profit.
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