The number of petrochemical, oil and gas and related machinery companies in Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), the flagship Free Zone of Dubai and the trade and logistics hub for the Middle East, has seen 20 percent growth since 2012.
The sector is estimated to have generated trade worth USD 14 billion in the last fiscal, said Adil Al Zarooni, Senior Vice President, Jafza Sales, in his brief welcome address at the Strategic Customer Forum for Petrochemical, Oil and Gas and related Machinery companies organised by Economic Zones World, the parent company of Jafza.
The Forum was held at TechnoPark based state-of-the-art Business Park.
Al Zarooni attributed the sector’s remarkable growth to the rising demand for petrochemicals in the GCC and the emerging economies in Asia. “Rapidly growing economic activities in the GCC and emerging economies in South and South East Asia will continue to drive similar or better growth in the petrochemical sector in the coming years.” “The sustained growth in the sector opens huge export opportunities for Jafza based petrochemical and oil and gas companies that must be capitalized on. Today’s forum seeks to find ways as to how we can take the advantage of these opportunities,” he added.
Salma Ali Saif Bin Hareb, CEO of Economic Zones World and Jafza commenting on the growth opportunities for the sector said: “China and India will continue to drive demand for UAE and the region’s petrochemical products. Despite slowdown in the manufacturing sector in both the countries, the automotive sector, which is one of the main petrochemicals consuming industry, is set for almost 10% year-on-year growth stimulating greater demand for engineering polymers for which the UAE is considered a market leader.
“Similarly the UAE and GCC have considerable potential for growth in the plastic industry because of the abundance of feedstock. In addition to the rapidly growing GCC market, a major growth opportunity for the plastics industry is expected to come from the developing economies. Besides large –volume plastic products, such as plastic pipes used in construction, packing products such as plasma bags, sheets, covers and strips have considerable potential for being exported from the country to several major markets in the world.” She was referring to a recent BMI report, which believes that Abu Dhabi is set to become a manufacturing hub for downstream plastics conversion in the Gulf region. The Arabian Gulf states account for 5 percent of the world’s manufacturing capacity for polymers with the UAE raising its share with further diversification downstream.
Leading industry players including Solvochem FZCO, Horizon Jebel Ali Terminals, Emerson, Cabot, Alderley, Schlumberger, GMA Garnet, Gulf Refining Company NV and MAG Lube LLC among others attended the forum.
Source : WAM News Agency for United Arab Emirates
