The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) chemical industry is projected to post a 15-20% revenue growth in 2021, reversing the contraction of more 20% last year, on the back of higher output and trade despite no dramatic recovery in upstream crude oil prices.
The projected growth, however, is still lower than the pre-pandemic pace of expansion of 25-30%, the Gulf Petrochemicals & Chemicals Association (GPCA) said on Tuesday.
Higher oil prices and a demand rebound in end-user industries would drive up revenues this year, it said.
"When looking at 2021, consensus among agencies is that the oil price is not expected to see a dramatic recovery and is predicted to be at the $40-50[per barrel] range in the coming two years," said Nuriya Ismagilova, research and studies specialist at the GPCA.
"Commodity chemicals saw the sharpest revenue decline in 2020 and are expected to see a strong recovery next year [2021]. However, we don’t expect revenue to return to pre-pandemic levels," Ismagilova said.
