Saudi petrochemical giant opens Shanghai center

SABIC, one of the world's top petrochemical companies, inaugurated a major technology center in Shanghai on Monday, showing its commitment to the Chinese market.

"It marks another milestone for SABIC in China, and will focus on providing solutions for Chinese customers and the northeast Asia region," said Mohamed H. Al-Mady, vice-chairman and chief executive officer of the Saudi Arabia-based company.

The center, 60,000 square meters of state-of-the-art labs, cost $100 million in initial investment, including 500 employees. Of those, 170 are application developers and materials technologists.

Al-Mady said the center will also serve as the main China office for the company.

SABIC reported sales of $50.4 billion in 2012, with 30 percent of that coming from the Asian market.

"China shared a large part of its Asian business," Al-Mady said, adding that business will grow in China because "it's a huge market with great potential to tap."

He added that the new center, one of 17 around the world, will develop next-generation innovative technologies and solutions involving construction, clean energy, electrics, electronics, medical devices and transportation. Its focus will be to meet the needs of its customers in China and Northeast Asia.

"We are gathering some of the best and brightest talent from China to shape the future of our R&D efforts," said Ernesto Occhiello, SABIC's executive vice-president over technology and innovation.

Occhiello said the company will strengthen its leadership in technology and innovation in China and the region by deepening its academic partnerships.

"We will sign a new agreement with our partner of almost two years, the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, to research and develop advanced processing technologies to produce chemicals from alternative feedstock," he said.

He said the project is part of SABIC's broader strategy of developing next-generation technologies to drive the future of its business and contribute to customers' success.