GCC petrochemicals sector to receive $50bln investments in 6 years

Mubasher: The GCC’s petrochemicals sector is expected to receive around $50 billion in investments in the coming six years.

Total investments pumped into the sector have exceeded $150 billion in the GCC six countries, the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association’s (GPCA) secretary general Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun told Mubasher.

Many petrochemicals projects are underway all over the GCC countries, Al-Sadoun added.

The top official added that the GCC members have become one the world’s main petrochemicals producers, noting that the region accounted for 11% of the global output in 2017, or 170 million tonnes.

Around 85% of the GCC petrochemical production is exported, Al-Sadoun revealed.

As for the impact of China-US trade war on the sector, the GPCA’s secretary general stated that it might have a negative impact for the fact that about a quarter of the GCC petrochemical output was delivered to China.

Al-Sadoun stressed that he was optimistic about the sector’s performance in the future, given the expected growth of the global and Chinese economies and the sector’s competitive means.

Established in 2006, GPCA includes over 250 companies operate in petrochemical and petrochemical-related industries in the GCC, which make up for 95% of the chemicals produced in the region.

Translated by: Muhammad Khalid