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Article: Petrochemicals: with falling demand, the outlook for the Middle East petrochemicals sector is increasingly gloomy.(Special Report: Sector outlook 2009)
- Article from:
- MEED Middle East Economic Digest
- Article date:
- January 2, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 MEED Middle East Economic Digest. All Rights Reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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After two years of frenetic activity in the Middle East project market for petrochemicals, 2008 was a disappointing year. Huge increases in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) costs in the first half of the year, coupled with restrictions on new gas feedstock allocations in the region led to the number of new project announcements dropping sharply since their 2006 peak.
The trend looks set to continue in 2009, although for different reasons. Prices for raw materials such as steel and copper have dropped significantly over the past few months. But more important will be the effects of the current financial crisis.
As a result of the economic ...