RIYADH, 13 January 2005 — The Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Co. (SAFCO) announced yesterday record net profits in 2004 of SR660 million ($176 million). The profits of SAFCO, an affiliate of petrochemicals giant Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), were up 64 percent on SR402.8 million ($107.4 million) in 2003, a statement said.
SAFCO Chairman Mohammed Al-Madi said the level of the company’s profits “is the highest in its history, exceeding the previous highest record, which was reached in 1996, by eight percent.” He attributed the increase to an “improvement in sale prices of most products.”
Prices of ammonia and urea, SAFCO’s main products, rose by 26 percent and 38 percent, respectively, on the year, Madi said. In 2003, SAFCO signed a major deal with Germany’s UHDE to expand its petrochemical manufacturing. The project will increase SAFCO’s annual output by 1.1 million tons each of ammonia and urea, from its plant in Al-Jubail industrial city on the Gulf. The expansion was expected to come onstream in early 2006.