In a move aimed not only at saving its European customers costs and improving efficiency but also to improve after-sale services and shorten delivery times, Saudi Arabia’s National Petrochemical Industrial Company (Natpet, Jeddah; www.natpetpp.com) on 5 October 2011 signed partnership agreements with logistics providers De Rijke (Spijkenisse / The Netherlands; www.derijke.com) and Katoen Natie (Antwerp / Belgium; www.katoennatie.com). The latter are to set up regional storage and distribution centres for Natpet’s range of PP grade mix (“Teldene”).

The Saudi group believes the distribution hubs will allow it to better serve its customers in Benelux, Germany, Northern Italy, France and the UK. “This is a landmark moment for Natpet as these agreements allow us to firmly establish our presence in the European and UK markets and brings us much closer to our European clientele base,” said Natpet CEO Jamal Malaikah.

The exact scope of the project and other relevant details are to be released at a later date. According to PIE’s Polyglobe capacity database, Natpet can turn out 400,000 t/y of PP at its plant in Yanbu / Saudi Arabia.