Nora Ismagilova of the GPCA tells Refining and Petrochemicals Middle East in 2013 the GCC producers will add 6.9 million tonnes of petrochemical capacity driven by Saudi Arabia and the UAE accounting for 50.7% and 29.4% of capacity additions
The gobal petrochemicals sector is expected to grow by 3.6% in 2013, which is an increase from 1.2% growth in 2012 (American Chemicals Council estimations).
The most rapid growth of the chemicals industry in the following year will occur in the emerging nations of Asia-Pacific growing by 6.8% and Africa and Middle East growing by 4.7% in 2013.
In contrast, the output of petrochemicals sector in Western Europe and North America are expected to grow by 0.9% and 3.9% respectively. For the petrochemicals industry in the GCC, it is forecasted that regional producers will grow by 5.4% in 2013, reaching 134.7 million tonnes per annum.
In total, GCC producers are expected to add 6.9 million tonnes of petrochemicals capacity in 2013. The majority of added capacity will take place in Saudi Arabia representing 50.7% of the capacity additions in the region in 2013, followed by the UAE which accounts for 29.4% of the regional added capacity. Capacity additions in Qatar are expected to represent 19.5% of the regional capacity additions.
In 2013, Saudi Arabia is expected to continue being the largest petrochemicals producer in the region accounting for 67% of the total GCC petrochemicals capacity.
With new capacity additions in the GCC, Saudi Arabia’s share in the regional petrochemicals capacity in 2013 is expected to decline marginally by 1% compared with 2012.
Petrochemicals capacity in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach 89.9 million tonnes per annum by the end of 2013 which represent an increase of 4% on YoY basis.
This growth rate is lower than 2012 growth rate which was 7%. Qatar is the second largest producer in the region continuing to account for 13% of the total GCC capacity.
By the end of 2013, petrochemicals capacity in Qatar is expected to reach 18.2 million tonnes per annum up by 8% from the previous year. 2013 year-on-year growth of 8% in Qatar is significantly higher than in the previous year when it grew by 1% only.
UAE is expected to add 2 million tonnes of additional capacity in 2013, which will bring petrochemicals capacity in the UAE to 8.1 million tonnes.
As a result of new capacity, additional share of the UAE in the regional petrochemicals capacity will increase by 1% from 2012 level to 6% in 2013.
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Year-on-year petrochemicals capacity growth of 33% in 2013 in the UAE is the highest in the region outpacing by far the regional capacity growth of 5%.
Similarly, Kuwait accounts for 6% of the regional petrochemicals capacity in 2013.
Share of Oman in the regional petrochemicals capacity is expected to remain through 2013 at 7% or 9.5 million tonnes. From the industry’s products portfolio perspective, 2013 will not bring along a significant change.
Over the past years, one-third of the petrochemicals products produced in the GCC have been basic petrochemicals. By the end of 2013, basic petrochemicals capacity in the GCC will account for 36.6%.
While continuing to account for the major share, it is gradually decreasing – in 2013 basic petrochemicals share in the total petrochemicals capacity is expected to decrease by 1.3%. Fertilizers represent the second largest product group in the GCC petrochemicals sector.
With demand for fertilizers increasing, GCC producers are building up their capacities to fulfill this demand. In 2013, share of fertilizers in the total petrochemicals will increase by 1.4% to 30.8 million tonnes. Growth of the GCC polymers capacity was one of the strongest among other products over the past years.
Share of polymers in the total petrochemicals capacity rose from 15.2% five years ago to 18.5% in 2013. Share of chemicals and intermediate products continues to be on the same level in 2013.
