Increased focus on downstream petrochemicals to drive plastics industry in the Middle East

The Middle East is exposed to economic instability due to the increased dependence on the oil sector and it has been continuously trying to diversify its sources of income by developing downstream petrochemicals industry, as per GlobalData. The oil sector contributes to a large portion of the GDP in the Middle East and sudden price fluctuation affects the revenues generated from the sector. To reduce their dependence on the oil sector, countries in the Middle East embarked upon diversification of their economy which led to the foundation of a strong basic petrochemicals (upstream) industry in the start of last decade. Now the region is moving a step ahead and encouraging the downstream petrochemicals industry which will further enhance the plastic resins production. The Middle East already has a large downstream petrochemicals industry and this move will further boost the downstream petrochemical capacity in the region. Diversification drive will also encourage the plastic processing industry which is currently very small and scattered. Capacity for many of the high value plastics such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) and polycarbonate is also expected to increase in next five years. By 2016, ABS, polycarbonate and EVA capacity in the region will reach to 0.283 mln metric tpa, 0.285 MMtpa and 0.345 MMtap respectively. The downstream petrochemicals industry in the Middle East will rely on the Asian demand to absorb these petrochemical capacities. Asia and Europe are the two largest plastic resins importer from the Middle East. However, the Middle East producers will target Asian markets due to the higher demand growth in these markets. Asian countries especially China and India are supporting the downstream petrochemicals demand with their fast growing GDPs and large populations. China is already the largest importer of the downstream petrochemical from the Middle East and it is expected to import huge quantities of downstream petrochemicals in the future also. Other major importers of downstream petrochemicals from the Middle East are Singapore, Turkey, Belgium and India. China's share in downstream petrochemicals imports is much higher due to the indirect consumption which occurs via Singapore which has established itself as the transshipment hub in the Asian petrochemicals industry. Turkey also imports one third of its downstream petrochemicals from the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and Iran are the two largest petrochemical exporters in the region. Saudi Arabian ethane has the lowest cost in the Middle East region. This feedstock subsidy makes Saudi companies the global low cost producers of downstream petrochemicals. Due to this production and exports of major plastics from Saudi Arabia has increased substantially. Iran has the second largest petrochemicals industry in the region and is growing at a fastest pace. It has the second largest natural gas reserve in the world which provides both energy and petrochemical feedstock to the producers. Both these countries are leading the Middle East downstream diversification drive and continuous government support will help them to enhance their competitiveness in the global downstream petrochemical industry. To take advantage of the downstream diversification drive many companies in the region have taken initiatives. Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemicals Company have entered into a joint venture to establish Sadara Chemical Company which will construct a mega petrochemical complex in Saudi Arabia with various plastics production units. Iran Petrochemical Commercial Company will also benefit from the diversification drive since polymers is the second largest revenue generating segment among all the petrochemicals exporting segments. The Qatar Petrochemical Company has already planned three downstream petrochemical complexes and is has just entered into a JV with Qatar Petroleum to construct polyethylene and polypropylene plants in Ras Laffan.