Industries Qatar cashes in on global demand

Industries Qatar, the country's largest company by market value, posted a 39% increase in third-quarter profit as surging global demand boosted prices for its chemical and fertiliser products.

Net income in the three months to September 30 was 1.35 billion riyals ($371.1 million), Reuters calculated from nine-month data the company published on the stock exchange website.

An analyst's forecast in a Reuters survey last month was for third-quarter profit of 931.06 million riyals.

Net income in the nine months to September 30 was 3.4 billion riyals, or 6.80 riyals per share, compared with 2.5 billion riyals, or 5.10 riyals per share, in the year earlier period, the company said.

The stock jumped more than 1% in early trading after the results were announced.

Industries Qatar, which makes fertiliser, chemicals and steel, did not say why profit rose.

Gulf Arab chemical makers are benefiting from higher prices spurred by surging demand for their products in India and China.

Asian prices for ethylene ranged from $1,250 per tonne to $1,300 per tonne in the third quarter, compared with $1,100 per tonne to $1,200 per tonne in the year-earlier period, according to the Houston-based Chemical Market Associates (CMAI).

China import prices for methanol ranged between $330 per tonne and $350 per tonne in the third quarter, compared with $260 per tonne in the year-earlier period, according to CMAI data.

Based on those prices analysts expect Industries Qatar rival Saudi Basic Industries (Sabic) to report its fifth consecutive record profit in the third quarter, a Reuters survey of analysts shows.

Saudi Arabian Fertilisers (Safco), of which Sabic owns 40%, more than doubled its third-quarter profit to a record on higher sales and prices.

The price of ammonia, a Safco product, rose to $335 per tonne at the end of September from $292 per tonne at the end of June, said Hisham Abu Jamea, head of research at Bakheet Investment Group in Saudi Arabia.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM