Dubai - Mubasher: The petrochemicals industry affects the stock index across the world, including the GCC, and stock markets with well-established petrochemical industries are better performers against crude oil plummet prices, according to a press release by ArabPlast.
ArabPlast 2017 is one of the biggest global plastics and petrochemical shows in the world, it set to take place in Dubai between 8 and 10 January 2017, at the Dubai World Trade Center.
“The petrochemicals industry is helping lift major stock markets in the Middle East,” according to Satish Khanna, the general manager of Al Fajer Information and Services, co-organisers of ArabPlast.
Although some upstream oil operators have posted results that have missed expectations, their derivative segments and other petrochemical businesses are seeing the upside of the oil price erosion said Khanna.
The year 2015 have become a bright spot in the books of many petrochemical companies as falling international crude oil prices have alleviated the pressure on their margins according to a report by Petrochemical Update.
Investments in plastics and petrochemical sector are on the upswing defying the current global market conditions. The Gulf petrochemicals industry continues to be the world’s largest producer and exporter, offloading the majority of its output to more than 150 countries worldwide.
According to Shell, global demand for ethylene has grown by almost 5% each year over the past 25 years, a level of growth which is over three times higher than the increase in demand for crude oil.
“As the global ethylene cost curve flattens, experts expect this to be a positive tailwind for naphtha-based producers, especially as they enjoy a broader production portfolio of co-products than their ethane-based peers,” said Khanna.
Over the next five years, the Gulf’s market share of the global petrochemical industry will jump to over 17%, according to an industrial study. GCC plastics industry is becoming more vibrant as the demand for the new products is growing with rapid speed in the region.
