The total revenue earned by the GCC petrochemical industry in 2012 amounted to US$97.3bn, according to a Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA) report
According to the GCC Petrochemicals & Chemicals Facts and Figures 2012, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) petrochemicals output has been increasing at the rate of 19 per cent every year over the last five years.
This is the highest growth posted by any petrochemicals-producing region in the world, the report added.
Last year, the GCC’s petrochemicals industry has reportedly earned US$52.7bn in export revenues.
Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, secretary general of the GPCA, said, “Over the last three decades, the GCC petrochemicals sector has evolved from a chemical importing industry to one that exports the vast majority of its high-value goods to global markets. This has transformed the region’s economy and created jobs for thousands of people.”
While the GCC petrochemical industry is in a good position today, regional producers must not be complacent about the future, Al Sadoun noted.
Al Sadoun added that despite the GCC petrochemicals industry historically being a cost-leader on a global level primarily due to access to favorably priced feedstock, global trends showed that cheap raw materials were becoming available elsewhere.
Therefore, the Gulf’s chemical producers would have to draft more informed strategies in order to maintain their cost leadership, according to the GPCA secretary general.
Mohammad Husain, CEO of EQUATE Petrochemical Company, said, “During 2012, the Gulf’s production capacity of petrochemicals and chemicals exceeded 129mn tons.
“With the Gulf representing more than 10 per cent of the global petrochemical production, Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of petrochemical in the GCC region, followed by Qatar, Oman and Kuwait.”
