DOHA: The GCC countries exported 39.5 million tonnes of chemicals to Asia last year, with China accounting for the largest share, according to the annual Facts & Figures report of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), which will be released during the 9th Annual GPCA Forum, taking place on November 23-25 in Dubai.
The development of the manufacturing sector in China has enhanced demand for raw materials, including chemicals. As a result, GCC chemicals exports to China grew by an estimated 13 percent per year over the last ten years, with nearly 60 percent of GCC chemicals and plastics export going to Asia, says the GPCA.
“Given their significant feedstock advantage, petrochemical and chemical producers from the GCC countries have established strong foothold in China as their exports to this market have increased consistently over the past decade,” says Dr Abdulwahab Al Sadoun, Secretary-General of the GPCA.
“With US shale gas changing the global energy and petrochemical landscape, the relationship between the GCC and China is ever more important.”
China is the world’s biggest chemical market, and is still growing at double digit rates, faster than the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Last year, China’s chemical industry was valued at $1.31 trillion.
China imported 5.52m tonnes of polyethylene resins (PE) in the first seven months of this year, up by 14.6 percent. Its polypropylene resins (PP) important totaled 2.98 million tonnes during the same period, up by 7.68 percent.
“This is a clear signal that China has an unquenchable thirst for consumer grade plastic — a demand that can be ably filled by GCC producers over the next few years,” continued Dr Al Sadoun.
According to data from China’s national customs agencies, China imported 3.01 million tonnes of PE from the GCC countries in 2013, which accounted for 34 percent of the country’s total PE imports that year. China imported 1.18 million tonnes of PP in 2013, with GCC material accounting for 24 percent.
According to the GPCA, more PE and PP volumes are expected to flow from the GCC to China going forward in view of new plants scheduled to come on stream in the GCC region over the next few years.
“The chemical industries in the GCC and China have boomed in parallel over the last 30 years,” says Dr. Al-Sadoun.
“GCC producers are seeking a role as enabler of the economy of the future and are indispensable players in China’s economic development. At the same time, GCC petrochemical producers are seeking to develop the downstream hydrocarbon industry as part of their Gulf-based sustainability efforts.”
The Peninsula
