Page 18 - DMEA Week 46

DMEA PETROCHEMICALS DMEA

QP finishes integrating local petchem

player into its operations

QATAR QATAR Petroleum (QP) has finished integrat- year it also integrated its SEEF joint venture with
ing petrochemicals marketer Muntajat into its Qatar’s UDC into its operations. SEEF operates
A trend of consolidation operations – part of a broader trend of consol- a 100,000 tonne per year (tpy) LAB plant in
has been going on in idation in the Middle Eastern petrochemicals Mesaieed.
Qatar’s petrochemicals sector. A trend of consolidation has been going on
sector for several years Muntajat will continue to exist as a legal entity in Qatar’s petrochemicals sector for several years
now. while QP has been appointed as its marketing now, as operators seek to bring down costs and
agent, the latter said in a statement. Comment- boost their international competitiveness. The
ing, QP CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said the slump in prices over the past year as a result of
integration would enhance its capabilities and extra supply and weaker growth may accelerate
“eventually benefit our worldwide network of this process. Among the notable recent deals,
downstream customers and keep us as the part- state-owned Qatar Vinyl merged its operations
ner of choice providing superior high-quality with Qapco in 2017.
products and excellence in customer service.” A similar trend is also being seen in Saudi
Munjarat markets polyethylene (PE) and Arabia, where state oil giant Saudi Arabia
other petrochemical products such as methanol, recently closed its $69bn takeover of a major-
methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and linear alkyl ity stake in SABIC, the country’s leading
benzene (LAB), as well as fertilisers and metals. petrochemicals player. In September, Saudi pet-
While embarking on a major expansion of rochemicals firms Saudi Industrial Investment
its liquefaction capacity, QP is also looking to Group (SIIG) and National Petrochemical Co.
build up its downstream capabilities, to serve as (Petrochem) also said they were considering a
a hedge against gas market volatility. Earlier this merger after both suffering heavy losses. ™

Second virus wave hitting

Turkish exporters

TURKEY TURKEY’S chemical industry has cut its export told Dunya.
target for 2020 by $1bn to $19bn while the coun- The volume of goods passing through border
Chemical exports try’s ready-wear industry has hiked its export gates also declined in November, representa-
declined by 11% year contraction forecast for the year to 15% y/y from tives of the Turkish transporters’ association
on year in October. the previous 10%. Both moves were made as a informed the daily.
result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) spike Around 35% of car dealerships in Europe
hitting export markets, business daily Dunya have already shut down, Haydar Yenigun, head
reported on November 16. of Turkish automotive producers association
The textile and ready-wear sector registered OSD, told the newspaper.
around $26bn worth of exports in 2019. Turkey’s auto industry, meanwhile, is stick-
Chemical exports declined by 11% y/y to ing with its $25bn worth of exports target for
$1.73bn in October. At the beginning of this year, 2020 despite negative expectations for orders
the chemical industry targeted $22bn worth of in December and January, according to Baran
exports. Celik, head of automotive exporters association
International oil traders believe that the oil OIB.
markets, which can negatively impact the petro- Automotive exports declined by 21% y/y
chemical industry when associated logistics and to $20bn, equivalent to 17% of Turkey’s total
transportation suffer in a downturn, will stabilise exports, in January-October. The industry reg-
in 14-24 months, Adil Pelister, head of the Turk- istered around $30bn worth of export revenues
ish chemical exporters association IKMIB, has in 2019. ™

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 46 19•November•2020