JEDDAH/BEIJING: The value of Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports to China, mainly chemicals used to make plastic products, reached the highest in 15 months. Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports to China reached SR1.75 billion ($467 million) in March, up 34 percent from a year earlier, according to data on the Department of Statistics and Information's website. The value of non-oil exports to China increased as prices for petrochemicals benefited from high oil prices, as well as the introduction of new products. "Saudi makers have added many new petrochemical and chemical products this year, and the majority of these products were exported to China and Asia," Abdul-Rahman Al-Zamil, the head of the Export Development Center, said in a telephone interview. The Riyadh-based center promotes the nation's non-oil exports. China, Singapore and India accounted for one-quarter of Saudi non-oil exports in March, the department's data showed. Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports by value increased by 33 percent to Singapore and by 5.8 percent to India. Petrochemical exports made up 34 percent of non-oil exports from Saudi Arabia in March, while exports of plastics such as Polyethylene terephthalate comprised 33 percent, the data showed. Polyethylene terephthalate is used to make plastic bottles. China was the largest importer of Saudi petrochemicals and plastics in 2010 in terms of volume, according to the Department of Statistics and Information. China imported 5.9 million tons of non-oil exports in 2010 from Saudi Arabia, mainly comprised of petrochemicals and plastics.
