The Saudi Arabian Fertilizer Company (Safco), a Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) affiliate, reported first quarter 2006 net profits of SR275.4 million ($73.4 million) compared to SR236.3 million profits in the same period in 2005.

Mohamed Al-Mady, Sabic Vice-Chairman and CEO and Safco chairman and managing director, said, “Safco’s profits in Q1 2006 rose by 16.5 per cent over the profits of the same period last year.
“This is due to the overall improvement in prices of major products. Ammonia has increased by 39 per cent per metric ton, whereas urea has risen by seven per cent.”
Safco’s urea formaldehyde plant went onstream with an annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes.
Final stages of work are currently underway on the Safco4 expansion project, which will add 2.2 million tonnes of ammonia and urea annually.
This will strengthen Sabic’s competitive capabilities in the global marketplace and shareholder equity.