The petrochemicals industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is set to undergo a massive expansion in capacity, a new report has found.
It is estimated that ethylene and polyethylene production capacity will increase by 32 million metric tonnes (mmt) and 23mmt respectively by 2015, according to Alpen Capital's report.
Global ethylene demand is expected to grow 4.7% over the next six years to reach about 153mmt by 2015 focusing on China and India, the research said.
Most of the leading global petrochemical firms are evaluating options of entering or expanding their activities in the Gulf through subsidiaries, joint ventures or other innovative operating models, according to gulf-times.com.
The supply-demand mismatch is expected to continue in the short term, but there will likely be a gradual improvement as the global economy recovers and more downstream projects come onstream.
