Dubai: Per capita consumption of plastics in the Gulf has crossed 39 kilogrammes, 33 per cent higher than the world average and almost 8 times more than India, according to a latest report.
The per capita consumption of plastics in North America is 90 kilogrammes, in West Europe it is 65 kilogrammes, 10 kilogrammes in Eastern Europe, 12 kilogrammes in China, 5 kilogrammes in India, 10 kilogrammes in South East Asia and 18 kilogrammes in Latin America, the report says.
“Plastics are being produced domestically due to the high availability of petrochemical raw material in the GCC,” it says.
“The Gulf States command an 11 per cent share of the $600 billion global petrochemical industry. Gulf States could develop a domestic market for consuming their petrochemicals instead of exporting it to almost all other countries in the world,” Satish Khanna, General Manager, Al Fajer Information & Services, which organises trade shows including the recently concluded Arabplast 2013, said.
“Plastics consumption in the Middle East is rapidly increasing. Events like World Cup Doha 2022 are boosting this consumption. Plastics is also used heavily in infrastructure and this explains the rapidly increasing consumption amongst individuals and corporate alike. Plastics and petrochemical companies in the GCC are equipping their factories with latest technologies and machineries to increase their production capacities. This is where these multi-billion deals at the show were generated.”
GCC accounts for 34 per cent of global demand for pipes as new GCC pipeline networks will need over 5.3 million tonnes of steel pipes in five years, it says, which is equivalent to $7.2 billion (Dh26.48 billion) in spending.
Moreover, according to World Energy Council, GCC needs to invest up to $100 billion over this decade to meet the growing energy demand. A big chunk of these investments go to expanding the pipes and tubes networks that serve the oil and gas sector, in addition to other allied sectors such as utilities and transport.
