SAUDI ARABIA
 
Global Economic Weakness Pares Saudi Petchem Profits
 
Global economic weakness continued to take a toll on the profits of Saudi refining and petrochemical companies last year. While in some cases start-up issues and maintenance outages were also to blame, most firms saw 2012 profits trimmed by lower product prices.
 
Of the 14 companies from the sector trading on the Kingdom’s Tadawul stock exchange, 11 were profitable in 2012, but of...