Saudi Arabia Bio-based Naphtha Market Outlook

saudi arabia's bio-based naphtha industry has been witnessing steady growth and diversification due to rising government initiatives to promote the production of bio-based fuels. initiative such as the national industrial cluster programme (nicp) by king abdullah city for atomic & renewable energy have provided a strong impetus to the growth in production of bio-based naphtha in the country. saudi arabia is the largest petrochemical producer in the mea region and its feedstock consists of 52% aromatic naphtha and 39% light and middle distillate naphtha blending. the efforts of government in promoting the production of bio-based naphtha are evident by the increasing number of bio-refineries projects in the country. in 2018, saudi arabia was the leader in bio-refineries projects in the world and they also have a major stake in the saudi bio-energy company (sbec). plans are also in place to build a series of bio-refineries in the kingdom. the country is also focusing on utilizing renewable resources for generating biodiesel through the utilization of lipid-producing micro-algal feedstocks, feedstock from vegetable oils, enzyme catalyzed glycerol hydrated process, and vegetable tannin reaction. the aim is to reduce the dependence on crude oil imports and also provide a cost-effective and renewable option of biodiesel which can be used in a country-wide application scale. in a bid to reduce the demand of foreign-sourced naphtha, the government of saudi arabia is encouraging initiatives that focus on the development of bio-refineries in different regions of the country. these initiatives include infrastructure development, research and development and project finance. the government is also providing incentives such as tax exemptions, subsidies and loan extensions in order to promote the private sector participation in developing bio-refineries. the market outlook for saudi arabia’s bio-based naphtha industry looks extremely encouraging with numerous government regulations, incentives and energy policies in place. it is expected that the country will witness further advances in the production, supply and export of bio-based naphtha in the coming years. this presents an excellent opportunity for businesses to invest and capitalize on these advancements to gain a competitive edge in the market.