GOIC statistics estimate KSA’s investments in chemicals and chemical products industry at $73 billion
10 July 2011

 Latest statistics issued by the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) revealed that Saudi Arabia’s contribution to the chemicals industry and chemical products in the GCC during 2010 exceeded 70 percent of the total US$ 73.2 billion of investment, followed by Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, UAE and Bahrain, respectively

Saudi Arabia, being one of the leading exporters in the region, its exports of chemicals and chemical products amounted to US$ 10.8 billion in 2005. Exports increased to US$ 16.2 billion in 2008. Due to the global economic crisis, they decreased to US$ 13.7 billion. The Kingdom’s imports also increased from about US$ 5 billion in 2005 to US$ 8.5 billion, while the same decreased to US$ 7.6 billion in 2009, according to the latest GOIC statistics.

As for Qatar, which is ranked second as an exporter of chemicals and chemical products, its exports in 2005 amounted to nearly US$ 1.85 billion and rose to US$ 2.4 billion in 2006. In 2007, the same amounted to a little over US$ 3 billion and up to US$ 4.1 billion in 2008 before declining to US$ 2.1 billion in 2009. For the successive years from 2005 to 2009, Qatar imports reached US$ 580 million, US$ 750 million, a little more than US$ 1 billion, US$ 1.3 billion and finally US$ 1.5 billion in 2009.

Recent years have seen a steady rise in imports and exports of chemicals and chemical products in the GCC countries. Exports reached US$ 14 billion in 2005 and up to US$ 16.2 billion in 2006 and US$ 20.7 billion in 2007. In 2008, they reached approximately US$ 26 billion, before thay were affected by the global crisis. In 2009 they declined to US$ 22 billion.
In 2005, imports were estimated at nearly US$ 10.8 billion. They rose in successive years, respectively, to nearly US$ 14 billion, 17.9 billion, US$ 23.2 billion in 2008, falling to US$ 20.7 billion in 2009.

The data provided by the GOIC Industrial Information Management outlines that approximately 1006 industrial facilites are operating in the field of chemicals and chemical products in the GCC countries, according to the Standard International Industrial Classification in its fourth application under clause number 20. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are ranked at the top with 405 plants each, followed by Oman with 80 facilities, Kuwait with 48 facilities, Bahrain with 37 facilities and Qatar with 31 facilities.

Chemicals and chemical products industry sector covers a group of sub-industries, according to the International Classification of economic activities in its fourth application, including manufacturing of basic chemicals, fertilizers, nitrogen compounds, plastics and synthetic rubber in primary forms and industries of a variety of goods such as pesticides, paint, inks, soaps and cleaning products, perfumes and cosmetics in addition to synthetic fibers.

The Industrial Information Management revealed that the total investments in chemicals and chemical products industry in 2010 in the GCC countries reached US$ 73.2 billion. Saudi Arabia’s contribution is estimated at nearly 51.2 billion, followed by Qatar at about US$ 10.5 billion, while Kuwait ranked third with its contribution estimated at US$ 4.6 billion. Oman ranks fourth with US$ 4.2 billion. The contribution of UAE is US$ 2 billion while that of Bahrain is estimated at approximately US$ 488 million.

According to the GOIC figures provided by the IMI web portal for the industrial markets of those subscribing to the portal (www.imi.goic.org.qa), the number of workers in the GCC chemicals and chemical products industry is estimated at 83,835 in 2010. The largest percentage is in Saudi Arabia, with about 48,612 workers (58%), followed by the UAE with 19,016 workers (22.7%), Kuwait with approximately 5589 workers (6.7%), Qatar with 4494 workers (5.4%), Oman with 4128 workers (4.9%), and Bahrain with 1996 workers (2.4%).

The GOIC offers interested investors, analysts and writers the opportunity to see comprehensive statistics on the conditions of the industry in the GCC countries and Yemen, through the IMI web portal that allows subscribers to access a range of industry databases, including the Gulf database, which includes information on 22,000 plants in the Gulf States and Yemen, which include 14,000 operating plants and 8000 under licensing. This is in addition to providing access to foreign trade database, which contains detailed data on exports and imports of industrial goods to the Gulf states.

IMI subscribers can access the economic and social databases and review over 400 statistical tables containing economic and social indicators for GCC countries and Yemen. IMI also provides investment information for its subscribers from business owners and investors, introducing nearly 350 promising investment opportunities offered to them through summaries of statistical indicators to identify the industries that the Gulf region needs.

The IMI portal also gives access to a database developed for experts, including more than 100 experts specialized in economic, industrial, technical and academic fields, along with their contact information. 

Figure 1

The number of Chemicals and Chemical Products plants in GCC in 2010

Figure 2

The size of investments in the Chemicals and Chemical Products plants in GCC in 2010 (in billion US$)

Figure 3

Workforce in Chemicals and Chemical Products plants in GCC in 2010