CEO, Oci Nv
Search every verified Nassef Sawiris interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a July 2019 interview with ADNOC Insights, Nassef Sawiris discussed the rationale behind the joint venture between ADNOC and OCI, which created a global nitrogen fertilizer leader. Sawiris stated that the partnership allows the companies to optimize sourcing by serving regions from the most opportune production sites, reducing "criss-crossing cargoes" and providing customers with redundancy if one plant is down. He described the venture as a "win‑win proposition" that should add value for customers and both companies' bottom lines. Sawiris noted that nitrogen fertilizers grow at around 2% per annum, driven by population growth and changing diets, and called fertilizer "the single largest value item in the food chain." He said the fertilizer industry had suffered from overcapacity but expressed cautious optimism about a brighter few years ahead due to consolidation. Sawiris also emphasized the importance of disciplined capital allocation and described Abu Dhabi as "our home," citing its operating stability and legal system as reasons for establishing OCI's headquarters there.
“I think it crystallizes our various locations in terms of positioning them to serve certain regions in a more efficient way which helps our customers, helps with shorter delivery times and definitely helps both companies' bottom lines.”
“Before this joint venture was being created you'd see products coming out of ADNOC going to Brazil and Latin America and products coming out of the Mediterranean going into Asia and India and basically criss-crossing cargoes all the time — the process of optimizing sourcing to our customers from the most opportune prod...”
“We give the customer redundancy: if one plant is down he has multiple plants that can source product, so basically it's a win‑win proposition for all of us.”
“Nitrogen fertilizers grow at around 2% per annum with the growth of population plus the increased protein intensity and the better eating patterns, so fertilizer is a key ingredient to the farm economy — it's the single largest value item in the food chain.”
Nassef Sawiris, CEO of OCI, discusses the “Future of the Fertilizer Industry and Key Opportunities” following our recent Joint Venture partnership, which formed the largest nitrogen fertilizer exporter globally and the largest producer in MENA.
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