Silicone Oil in Saudi Arabia- KSA's Industrial Development & Silicone Oil

Cited from: https://pixabay.com/zh/photos/saudi-arabia-desert-camel-95500/

Cover Photo cited from: https://pixabay.com/zh/photos/mecca-mekkah-saudi-arabia-saudi-66970/

Saudi Arabia is located in the Arabian Peninsula, with a land area of 2.25 million square kilometers. Saudi Arabia is bordered by the Persian Gulf in the east and the Red Sea in the west, with an average elevation of 665 meters. It borders Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen and other countries. Its coastline is 2437 kilometers long, and the terrain is high in the west and low in the east.

Saudi Arabia's proven Oil reserves are 297.6 billion barrels, accounting for about 17% of the world's reserves, ranking second in the world; The natural gas reserves are 9.4 trillion cubic meters, accounting for 4.6% of the world's reserves and ranking sixth in the world. Saudi oil and gas resources are monopolized and developed by Saudi National Petroleum Company. In addition to abundant oil and gas resources, sand has more than 30 types of metal deposits such as gold, copper, iron, tin, aluminum, and zinc. In addition, there are a considerable number of non-metallic minerals such as potassium salts and limestone. Saudi Arabia is the world's largest producer of desalinated seawater, accounting for about 20% of the world's total desalination capacity.

The population of Saudi Arabia is approximately 34.81 million (as of the end of 2020), of which approximately 21.59 million are of Saudi nationality and 13.22 million are of foreign nationality, accounting for approximately 62% of the population. The proportion of labor force (aged 15-65) in the total population is about 72%. 95% of the population in Saudi Arabia is concentrated in major cities such as Riyadh and Jeddah.

The number of overseas Chinese in Saudi Arabia ranges from 30000 to 50000, mainly living in Taif, Jeddah, Mecca and other places in the west.

According to World Bank statistics, Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product in 2020 was $70.0118 billion, with a per capita GDP of $20.11 million. Among them, capital formation, consumption and Balance of trade accounted for 26.4%, 71.5% and 2.1% of GDP respectively. The added value of Saudi Arabia's three industries accounts for 2.6%, 41.4%, and 56.2% of GDP, respectively. The industrial structure is mainly composed of the secondary and tertiary industries.

Industries in Saudi Arabia

1.      Petroleum industry.

The oil and petrochemical industry is the lifeblood of Saudi Arabia's economy. In 2020, the total output value of Saudi Arabia's petroleum and petrochemical industry was 243 billion US dollars, accounting for 34% of GDP. In recent years, the Saudi government has made full use of its rich oil and natural gas resources, actively introduced foreign advanced technology and equipment, and vigorously developed non Petroleum industry such as steel, aluminum smelting, cement, seawater desalination, power industry, agriculture and service industry, aiming to get rid of excessive dependence on the crude oil industry and promote economic diversification. Saudi Arabia has a daily production capacity of 12.01 million barrels of oil and is capable of maintaining this daily production for another 50 years. In response to the impact of the COVID-19 on the crude oil market, since April 2020, Saudi Arabia and Russia have led OPEC+and reached the largest production restriction agreement in history, reducing production by 9.7 million barrels per day. In addition, Saudi Arabia has reduced production by approximately 1 million barrels per day. In May 2020, Saudi crude oil production was adjusted to approximately 7.5 million barrels per day.

2.      Natural gas industry.

In recent years, Saudi Proven reserves and output of natural gas have achieved double growth. The Proven reserves of natural gas in Saudi Arabia have increased from 8 trillion cubic meters to 8.3 trillion cubic meters. The consumption of natural gas in Saudi Arabia is increasing year by year. It is expected that from 2012 to 2020, Saudi Arabia's domestic natural gas consumption will increase by 8.6% annually, and the natural gas produced by Saudi Arabia will mainly be used to meet domestic consumption.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has vigorously developed non-oil and gas industries, including the main industries

(1)       Steel industry: Saudi Arabia's annual steel production capacity is approximately 12 million tons. The main enterprise is SABIC's Saudi Steel Company. The company is the largest integrated steel producer in the Middle East region and ranks 16th among the world's steel enterprises. Its current production capacity and shipment volume are 6 million tons, accounting for 50-52% of the Saudi end market. It produces a full range of products such as threaded steel, wire rod, cold and hot rolled steel, and flat steel. In addition, Al Rajhi Steel and ISPC also have larger production capacity. Rajha has an annual production capacity of approximately 1 million tons and claims to invest $4 billion in the Abdulaziz Economic City, adding 2.6 million tons of production capacity. Itfak is the largest private steel enterprise in Saudi Arabia. It has set up factories in Dammam and Mecca, with an annual output of 3 million tons of steel bars, billets, Direct reduced iron, bars and wire rods. In addition to the aforementioned enterprises, there are several small and medium-sized steel enterprises in Saudi Arabia, but their products are severely homogenized and compete fiercely.

(2)       Building materials industry: As the largest demand market in the Middle East region, Saudi Arabia relies on imports for 40% of its decoration materials, and the market vitality cannot be underestimated. Affected by large-scale infrastructure projects launched by the government and private sector, the demand for cement, ceramic tiles, and marble in the domestic building materials market in Saudi Arabia has significantly increased. Similarly, the huge demand has also given rise to the opportunity to build new ceramic tile and stone factories. At present, Saudi Arabia's cement production capacity is already surplus, and some Saudi specialty cement is exported to neighboring countries. The market for building materials such as tiles has also been basically saturated. Chinese enterprises have established one ceramic tile factory in Riyadh, Yanbu, and local enterprises.

Applications of Silicone Oil

Saudi Arabia does well in manufacturing and the corresponding natural resource development. Therefore, silicone oil is applied more as the agent in the manufacturing processes and the protection method for the natural resources.