Saudi’s Sadara appoints new CEO

Saudi’s Sadara Chemical Company (Sadara) has appointed Faisal Al-Faqeer from Saudi Aramco as its new chief executive officer.

He replaces Ziad Al-Labban who joined Sadara in October 2012 and was responsible for building the company including its physical assets, organisation, processes and procedures and then bringing those assets on stream.

With Sadara beginning commercially operations this year, Al-Labban will assume new responsibilities with Saudi Aramco as part of a planned transition, a statement said.

Aramco has a stake of 65 per cent in Sadara.

Al-Faqeer, who previously held various roles in Saudi Aramco, was nominated to the Sadara board of directors as a member in January 2017 and acted as the general manager for Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura Refinery, the largest refinery in the Middle East.

Following his appointment as CEO, he has resigned from Sadara’s board.

“I am excited by this opportunity to lead Sadara as the company enters into the full operations phase,” said Al-Faqeer.

Sadara Chemical, a $20bn petrochemical joint venture between Aramco and Dow Chemicals, is the largest chemical complex ever built in a single phase.

Located in Jubail Industrial City II, the complex began commercial operations of all its facilities in September.

The petrochemical and chemical products from Sadara are hoped to help the kingdom’s industrial growth across sectors such as automotive, construction, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods.

Read more: Saudi’s Sadara begins commercial start of its TDI facility

Also read: Saudi Aramco to dilute stake in Sadara Chemicals via IPO