Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has signed contracts with Iran and Egypt for exports this year of 260,000 tons of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), the company announced Wednesday, February 14.
The industrial giant's vice chairman, Fahd bin Nasser, said 200,000 tons of the anti-pollutant would go to Iran and the rest to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., in the seventh consecutive annual deal with Egypt.
The contracts are part of Iranian and Egyptian efforts to cut air pollution, a major factor in both Tehran and Cairo, he said, quoted by the official news agency SPA. He gave no value for the two deals.
SABIC's output of MTBE totals almost three million tons per year, making Saudi Arabia the second-largest producer after the United States. An octane-enhancing additive, MTBE helps control air pollution by replacing the lead in petrol.
A major producer of petrochemicals and steel, SABIC posted a record $6.5 billion in revenue and a $968 million net profit for 2000, up 113 percent from 1999, mainly due to high oil prices. But its fourth quarter profits plunged 33 percent from the previous three months. — (AFP, Riyadh)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
