THE CHALLENGES OF COVID-19: EMERGING STRONGER

Despite the challenges of COVID-19, SABIC’s performance during the pandemic remained robust, largely due to our foresight and resilience. The organizational transformation program we launched some years ago proved its worth – alongside the commitment and adaptability of our employees worldwide.

SABIC’s evolution continued throughout the year, and we were able to successfully adapt to a changing and uncertain world. Our commitment to delivering Chemistry that Matters™, for our customers and other key stakeholders, also remained consistent, driving our business forward.

We demonstrated this through our ability to:

Transform through collaboration

During the pandemic, we continued transforming our organization, increasing our operational efficiency and supply chain resiliency. A company-wide digitalization program has now gathered momentum to improve plant reliability and asset integrity, optimize energy use and product price setting, and make our operations even safer and more efficient.

Our commitment to pioneering collaborations has also played a major role in our ability to transform and remain at the cutting-edge of the global chemicals industry. An excellent example of this is our collaboration with BASF and Linde to develop the world’s first electrically heated steam cracker furnace. By using electricity from renewable sources, instead of fossil fuels, this new technology has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 90 percent in industrial settings.

Also noteworthy is our Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) joint venture with ExxonMobil, which has a world-scale manufacturing facility in Texas. GCGV is a strong example of how SABIC is able to turn its partnerships into springboards for global growth and expansion.

SABIC’s ability to remain agile by building and maintaining strong relationships has proven key in an ever-changing environment, and enables us to fulfil our commitment to support our customers and solve their biggest challenges.

Continue our sustainability journey

Over the years, we have maintained our laser focus on driving greater sustainability across the business, and driving the circular carbon economy forward, while advocating our circular solutions.

Our carbon neutrality strategy commits SABIC to the Paris Agreement goals.  We are continually pursuing efforts and exploring solutions to meet carbon neutrality from operations under our control by 2050.

We have set an interim target year of 2030 for a 20% reduction (relative to 2018) in direct and indirect greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions generated by our own production. Thereafter, we have set our sights on the emissions during the lifecycle of our products along the value chain—from the moment they are manufactured to the moment they are disposed of.

Across the globe, we have taken steps towards achieving this goal. In Europe, for example, we have invested in our Teesside UK site to restart our hydrocarbon cracker, converting it to run on hydrogen. This will reduce the facility’s carbon footprint by up to 60% in the first phase, making it one of the world’s lowest carbon-emitting crackers.

We are also helping drive the use of more sustainable material solutions in the global chemicals industry. SABIC is the first in industry to offer a polycarbonate (PC) based certified renewable product. We have worked closely with the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) to provide proof of the incorporation of renewable feedstock in our PC production, and the resulting sustainability claims have been verified by independent third-party auditors.

We still have a long journey ahead to reach our sustainability goals, but it is encouraging to see that our progress has not gone unnoticed. SABIC was named the winner of the Best Recycling / Circularity Initiative at the Chemical Week Sustainability Awards 2022, and also received the Ecovadis Platinum Award in recognition of our high standards in CSR and sustainability performance. SABIC was also awarded the prestigious American Chemistry Council Sustainability Leadership Award 2023 for the company’s pioneering TRUCIRCLE™ solutions to use recovered ocean-bound plastic to make high-quality flexible packaging materials. SABIC’s ESG efforts were also recognized for the second consecutive year with the Best ESG Award at the Saudi Capital Markets Forum in February 2023.

Adapt to the new world of work

The pandemic  had a profound impact on the global chemicals industry, blurring the boundaries of the workforce, the workplace, and the very nature of work itself. As we embraced the “new normal”, we  also aimed to enhance the wellbeing of our people by providing them with a platform to unlock their full potential.

An outstanding example of this  was our Project Endeavor program, which was introduced in our Asia Pacific region in 2020, and later expanded to other regions. This program builds the capabilities of our people by giving them an opportunity to work on business projects sponsored by our senior leaders - in accordance with their performance, strengths, career interests and passions.

Even as the pandemic raged on in 2021, the SABIC Young Leadership Council (SYLC)  held a virtual event, iENGAGE, bringing together young leaders from over 25 countries to find bold solutions to challenges involving our business and people. SYLC empowers young leaders through direct interaction with SABIC’s Vice Chairman and CEO, and Executive Leadership team, to help shape future business decisions.

In tandem with this is the importance we continue to place on employee engagement at SABIC. This is exemplified by the SABIC Leadership Way (SLW), which is geared towards continuously engaging and developing the capabilities of our people. In July 2021, SLW was selected by global research and advisory firm, Gartner, as a best-practice model of how to transform global business leadership in light of new internal and external challenges.

Our ongoing internal communications campaign, Project Eye, has also given SABIC's senior leadership team a powerful visual and engaging platform through which to communicate with employees and enhance their understanding of SABIC's business. Its innovative use of high-quality video and web content led to it winning a Silver Award at the 2021 Internal Communications Brilliance Awards – for the category “Brilliance in Internal Communications Campaign.”

Looking forward

SABIC has emerged stronger from the days of the pandemic. Today, we are already embracing new norms related to employee well-being, ESG standards, and digitalization, among others. These elements will continue to play key roles in our future success.

Looking forward, SABIC will continue to evolve its business model, driving more value creation, sustainability, and innovation. We will continue to develop capabilities that enable us to pursue profitable growth while following through on ESG imperatives – including those aimed at achieving full carbon neutrality.

Our ability to transform has always been, and will continue to be, an essential part of our DNA. This ensures that despite the challenges which may lie ahead, our commitment to delivering Chemistry that Matters™ always remains at the core of everything we do.