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Industry business news from the Middle East. All the important stories, exclusive interviews, plus authoritative opinion and analysis

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Saudi Arabia and China agree $3.7 billion in deals, strengthening agricultural trade ties and boosting Saudi food security efforts

Saudi Arabia and China sign deals worth $3.7bn to boost agriculture

Saudi Arabia and China have signed 57 agreements worth SAR14 billion ($3.7 billion) to strengthen their trade relations, focusing mainly on the agriculture sector. The two nations signed 31 agreements in the field of greenhouses, livestock, poultry and fisheries during the Saudi-Chinese Business Forum, the ministry of environment, water and agriculture said in a post […]

Despite market challenges, Alba says sales volume reached 374,809 metric tonnes, up by 3 percent year on year

Alba earnings dented by rising raw-material prices

Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), which is listed on the Bahrain Bourse, said its earnings were hit in the first quarter of 2025 due to higher raw material (alumina) prices. Net profit fell 26 percent to BD18.1 million ($48 million) in the quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to BD25 million a year ago, the company said […]

Sabic's manufacturing site in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Petrochemicals made up almost 10 percent of total Saudi exports last year

Clouds still not lifting on Saudi petrochem industry

Saudi Arabia’s petrochemical companies underperformed in the first quarter and little improvement is expected for the remainder of the year, analysts say. Saudi Basic Industries Corp (Sabic), the world’s seventh largest chemicals manufacturer by sales, made a net loss of $323 million in the three months to March 31, compared with a near $70 million […]

Outdoors, Nature, Countryside

Fertiglobe revenue rises by a quarter but profit down

Fertiglobe said revenues surged more than a quarter in the first three months of 2025, thanks to higher sales volumes and urea prices. The first quarter top line rose 26 percent year on year to $695 million. However, net profit attributable fell 24 percent annually to $73 million but rose 74 percent quarter on quarter, […]

The Wengfu acquisition will allow Fertiglobe to expand in vital sectors and diversify its global footprint

Fertiglobe buys Australia’s Wengfu fertiliser company

Abu Dhabi-listed Fertiglobe, the largest nitrogen fertiliser producer in the Middle East and North Africa, is to acquire Wengfu’s fertiliser distribution business assets in Australia. The final value of the deal will be determined at closing, subject to regulatory approvals, the company said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi bourse on Monday. Wengfu Australia Pty […]

Products from Oman's Sohar polymer facility will support oilfield operations in the Middle East

Oman’s largest chemical plant to start production next year

The first phase of a $300 million polymer project in Oman’s Sohar Port will be launched in the first quarter of next year. The plant will be operated by ZL EOR Chemicals, a Canada-based specialist in enhanced oil recovery projects. The facility’s capacity will reach 350,000 tonnes per annum on completion, placing it among the […]

A worker at a smelting workshop pours the rare earth metal lanthanum into a mould. Turkey has deposits of lanthanum, cerium and neodymium

Turkey keen to cash in on rare earth potential

Turkey plans to become one of the world’s leading suppliers of rare earths, seeking to parlay its extensive reserves into a position of international strength by investing in extraction and processing while also looking to develop downstream industries. In 2022 Ankara identified a massive mineral deposit in the central Turkish province of Eskişehir containing 10 […]

Guinea is aiming to revoke EGA's mining licence

Guinea ‘to pull EGA’s licence over alumina refinery row’

The Guinean government’s move to revoke Emirates Global Aluminium’s (EGA) mining licence stemmed from the company’s failure to fulfil its commitment to construct an alumina refinery, sources have told Reuters. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Guinea has launched a process to revoke the EGA licence, escalating a dispute that began in October with the suspension […]

Lucid's Gravity, the electric vehicle maker's SUV

Lucid CEO admits to ‘hiccups’ in SUV rollout

Lucid Motors, the Saudi-controlled US electric vehicle maker, has admitted to “hiccups” in the rollout of its sports utility vehicle, Gravity. “It is true that we had some technical issues that we had to overcome around software,” interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said on an earnings call this week. “There have been some hiccups, to be […]

Jetour at a Chinese auto show. The Algeria factory will be based on the semi-knocked down model

Chinese carmaker Jetour to build assembly plant in Algeria

Chinese car company Jetour is planning to build a car assembly plant in Algeria, taking advantage of incentives offered to industrial projects. Earlier this week Jetour told AGBI that it is planning to start a manufacturing unit in Dubai as a springboard to supplying the UAE and the rest of the Gulf. Jetour will build […]

A goat herder in Antalya province. Turkey's statistics agency has reported double-digit falls in all main categories of meat production in 2024

Turkey’s red meat output tumbles as costs keep climbing

Rising costs and falling returns have contributed to a drop in red meat production in Turkey, threatening the government’s plan to halt imports by 2028.  Red meat production fell by almost 12 percent in 2024, according to the state statistics agency Turkstat. Just 2.1 million tonnes were processed last year, down on the 2.38 million […]

Jetour T1 at the Auto Shanghai show in China. The carmaker is planning a facility in Dubai

China’s Jetour plans carmaking facility in Dubai

Chinese carmaker Jetour plans to start a manufacturing unit in Dubai as a springboard to supplying the UAE and the rest of the Gulf, its head of international operations told AGBI. “The GCC is the richest region in the world, and we obviously want to take it by the storm and be the No 1 […]

Ma'aden turned profitable in the first quarter of 2025 versus losses of SAR106 million in the fourth quarter of 2024

Ma’aden’s profit up by half as commodity prices rise

Earnings at Ma’aden, the Saudi Arabian Mining Company, surged by more than half in the first quarter of 2025, supported by growing sales and higher prices. Net profit for the quarter rose 58 percent year on year to SAR1.5 billion ($400 million), the company said in a filing to the Saudi stock exchange. Higher share […]

A Covestro laboratory. The EU competition watchdog is scheduled to decide on Adnoc's takeover of the German company by May 12

Adnoc expects EU approval for Covestro deal

Abu Dhabi state oil major Adnoc is set to secure unconditional European Union (EU) antitrust approval for its €14.7 billion ($16.6 billion) takeover of German chemicals company Covestro, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The deal, Adnoc’s biggest ever, underscores Middle East countries’ plans to diversify their investments and reduce dependence on oil amid the global transition […]

Sabic headquarters. Losses were driven by a SAR1 billion fall in gross profit driven by higher feedstock prices

Sabic to invest $4bn despite first-quarter losses

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, which is 70 percent owned by Saudi Aramco, swung to a loss in the first quarter of 2025 but intends to push ahead with a capital expenditure plan worth up to $4 billion. The petrochemicals giant, which trades on the Saudi stock exchange, reported a net loss of SAR1.2 billion ($320 million) […]

President Donald Trump holds an 'Investing in America' event at the White House. The president will visit the Gulf from May 13-16, and artificial intelligence is expected to be at the top of the agenda

AI will be front and centre during Trump’s Gulf trip

Artificial intelligence is expected to be top of the agenda during US president Donald Trump’s visit to Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in mid-May, with officials from all sides eager to announce fresh partnerships. Discussions are likely to focus on securing more GCC investments into US technology and expanding Gulf states’ access […]

Borouge's sales volume of polyethylene and polypropylene, used in plastics and packaging, increased

Borouge net profit increases to $281m for first quarter

UAE petrochemical company Borouge reported a rise in profit for the first quarter, driven by higher production and revenue. Net profit for the three months to March rose to $281 million, on the back of an increase in sales volumes and cost reduction, the company said in a statement. Production volumes rose 7 percent year […]

Borouge, backed by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and Austria’s OMV, has awarded two contracts for the expansion

UAE’s Borouge to expand its production capacity 

UAE petrochemical company Borouge, a specialist in polyethylene and polypropylene, has unveiled expansion plans to increase annual production capacity to more than 6.6 million tonnes by 2028. The expansion is expected to contribute $165-$200 million in earnings before interest, tax and depreciation, the company said in a statement.  Borouge, backed by Abu Dhabi National Oil […]

A Saudi Aramco refinery. A unit of the company has formed a joint venture with Sinopec

China’s Sinopec in $4bn joint venture with Saudi Aramco

China’s state-run Sinopec said on Monday it had signed an agreement with a unit of Saudi Aramco to establish a joint venture company with a registered capital of 28.80 billion yuan ($3.95 billion). The agreement was signed by Sinopec, its unit Fujian Petroleum Chemical Industry Co, and Saudi Aramco’s Singaporean unit Aramco Asia Singapore. Sinopec and its unit […]

A guest takes photos of a Tesla, displayed during the launch of the company's first showroom in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia electric vehicles

Saudi Arabia’s EV ambitions face ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma

Few of the car enthusiasts who attended Tesla’s launch in Riyadh last month arrived in electric vehicles.  Hundreds turned out for the much-heralded opening event in Riyadh, an indication that the furore around the Tesla brand and its owner Elon Musk has not crossed the Atlantic.  Despite this, public enthusiasm for electric vehicles (EVs) in […]

A garment factory in Corum, Turkey. Manufacturers had been hoping for a cut in interest rates

Factory activity in Turkey falls to lowest in two years

Turkey’s manufacturing sector has posted its fifth monthly decline in activity, reflecting a slowdown in domestic demand and the impact of political and economic instability. The manufacturing capacity utilisation rate – how much a factory’s full potential is being used – fell to 74.3 percent in April, according to a report issued this week by […]