Chemicals Glut Drags Down Sabic Profit Ahead of Aramco Buyout

Chemicals Glut Drags Down Sabic Profit Ahead of Aramco Buyout

The same factors that squeezed prices and profit margins last year are likely to persist in 2020, the state-run company said Wednesday.. The company posted a loss of 720 million riyals ($192 million) in the last three months of 2019 compared with a profit of 3.22 billion riyals in the year-earlier period.. Sabic traded at 86.80 riyals, down 2.4%, as of 11 a.m. in Riyadh, the lowest price since Nov. 4.. "The trade war between the U.S. and China has really created a level of anxiety in the market, which negatively impacted demand and also the prices," Al Benyan said.. Sabic last posted a quarterly loss in the first three months of 2009, when it was struggling to integrate the plastics unit it purchased from General Electric Co.. Saudi Aramco plans to complete its takeover of Sabic this year, in a push to diversify away from sales of crude oil.. The Saudi state-run company acquired a 24.99% stake in Clariant in 2018, but Sabic's takeover by Aramco has hampered its ties..