Demand from Middle East plastics convertors for regionally produced polyolefins is expected to reach 7.5mn tons/year in 2020, an increase of 40% from current consumption. This local consumption surge, says the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), is the result of a push by regional governments to develop downstream industry as a way of reducing dependency on oil exports.
Middle Eastern polyolefins capacity amounted to 26mn tons in 2013 and will reach 33mn tons in 2020, according to GPCA’s ‘New Horizon for the GCC Plastic Processing Industry’ report, launched at the annual PlastiCon conference in Dubai this week. A key trend highlighted by the report is the focus of Saudi Arabia and the UAE on boosting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for plastics processing. (CONTINUED - 1066 WORDS)
