SABIC and Bertschi delegation at the official opening in front of the transshipment platform.JEDDAH: Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) officially opened Monday its state-of-the-art polyolefin logistics center in northeast England, which is replacing SABIC's current logistics center in the UK. Located in Middlesbrough, Cleveland, the new facility underlines SABIC's long-term commitment to serving its UK customers, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The center's fully scaleable design will ensure that SABIC is equipped to meet current and future market demand for all the products in its broad polyolefin portfolio, which includes linear low density polyethylene film (LLDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP). The center is operated by Bertschi, the Swiss logistics and transport specialists. The company attained SABIC's contract on the strength of its proven record in container and bulk material handling. Hans-J?rg Bertschi, president and CEO Bertschi group, said: “This is a major step for our company in developing a network of pan-European polymer handling facilities. We are very proud to operate this new infrastructure on behalf of SABIC, with whom we have a long standing, excellent business partnership, including in developing innovative logistics solutions.” Raf Bemelmans, European director for the Polymer Supply Chain, said: “Our investment in this logistics center demonstrates SABIC's faith in the UK market as a long-term consumer of polyolefin materials. The center's logistics systems will enable us to support the growing use of bulk polymer handling operations that eliminate the need for manual interventions, such as ‘ripping and tipping'. Bertschi's experience in the transportation and polymer handling industries combined with the center's state-of-the-art design will allow us to further enhance the service we provide to our UK customer base.” Michael Allen, sales office director, SABIC UK, said: “Our business strives to take a leadership position in petrochemicals. Among other commitments, this involves building a world-class European supply network capable of giving our customers dedicated support combined with a reliable supply of quality polyolefin products within competitive lead times. Our new logistics hub will play an instrumental part in delivering this vision.” SABIC recorded a net profit of SR9 billion ($2.4 billion) in 2009. Sales revenues for 2009 totaled SR103 billion ($27 billion). Total assets stood at SR297 billion ($79.2 billion) at the end of 2009. SABIC ranks among the world's top six petrochemical companies. The company is among the world's market leaders in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene and other advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers. SABIC's businesses are grouped into chemicals, polymers, performance chemicals, fertilizers, metals and innovative plastics. SABIC has significant research resources with six technology & innovation centers in Saudi Arabia, Europe, the US and India.
