SABIC plans rail deliveries to cut emissions, costs: Report

Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) plans to replace its trucking delivery system with rail, as it looks to cut emissions and operating costs, Mark Tarrant, the company’s Asia head of global supply chain said in an interview with chemical news website ICIS.

SABIC is set to replace 200,000 truck deliveries with 2,700 trips by rail, which applies to domestic and international deliveries. As a result of the switch, fuel efficiency should improve by 47 percent, according to an agreement the Saudi petrochemical producer reached with Saudi Railways Co.

The project, which has no timeframe as of yet, is likely to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 48,000 tons a year, Tarrant added.

Last year, the company took out a long-term charter for the world’s first low emission gas carriers. The new ships will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 85 percent, reduce carbon dioxide by 20 percent, and eliminate sulphur oxide and soot particles.

In 2013, SABIC added three new shipping lines at the Jubail Commercial Port to transport 2.5 million tons of polymers, cutting 300,000 trucking trips.