UAE plastics industry growth fastest in GCC

DUBAI / Emirates Business

The UAE plastics industry is the fastest growing in the GCC, growing by 24.2% per annum in the past decade. This is according to the ‘GCC Plastic Industry Indicators 2016’ report due to be released at the 8th edition of GPCA PlastiCon by Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), the go to resource for industry data in the region. Set to take place on 9-10 April in Jumeirah at Etihad Towers, Abu Dhabi, PlastiCon is an annual GPCA event that caters to the plastics segment of the petrochemical industry.
According to the report, the GCC plastics industry is expected to reach 34.5 million tons by 2022, supporting further downstream development, while growing at a CAGR of 3%. Future plastic capacity growth will be driven by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman. In 2016, GCC plastics producers’ sales represented 4% of the global industry’s sales revenue, reaching USD 33-34 billion. The industry’s capacity expanded in 2016 by as much as 5%, reaching 27.1 million tons. In previous years, Saudi Arabia alone accounted for 2% of global polymer sales, and ranked as the eighth largest plastics producer globally.
Dr Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General of the GPCA, said, “Petrochemical producers are increasingly diversifying their portfolios, investing in new products and moving away from traditional commodity polymers towards specialties such as engineering plastics and elastomers. This is, in turn, supporting the expansion and development of the entire downstream industry in the region.”
Synthetic rubbers will witness biggest number of products introduced in coming years, benefitting from expected growth in transport and automotive sectors. By 2022, nearly 70% of incremental supply growth will come from commodities polymers, which represent 89% of GCC polymers capacity.