Middle East PE,PP surplus will head to Europe, US

17 April 2007 11:06  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--Surplus Middle East polyolefin capacity will plug shortfalls of 2.7m tonne/year in western Europe and 2.2m tonnes/year in the US in 2010, a Middle East distributor said on Tuesday.

 

“The Middle East will have a surplus of 23m tonnes/year of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) in 2010, up from 6.8m in 2005. Western Europe and North America, on the other hand will have gone from surplus to deficit by then,” said Ghassan Khoury, director of trading and distribution company, Polymed.

 

Khoury was speaking on the sidelines of the third ICIS Asian Polymers conference in Shanghai.

 

“Even major Middle East suppliers are not very well acquainted with marketing practices in Europe and North America. So this will provide an opportunity for distributors, who can help them grow their market share in these regions,” said Khoury.

 

However, only the bigger distributors with storage facilities and financial muscle will be able to make the best use of this opportunity, he said. “The new market reality in 2010 will call for strong logistics and supply chain capabilities and also technical support and market development capabilities,” he added.

 

The two-day conference ends on Tuesday.

By: Prema Viswanathan
+65 6780 4359

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