One of the key features of next month's GPCA Annual Forum is the Chemicals Market Outlook Seminar, conducted by the global market intelligence consultancy firm CMAI and taking place in Dubai on Tuesday December 7, 2010. This is the first time a seminar of this caliber is being held alongside the annual forum and CMAI consultants from around the World with topics ranging from energy and feedstock to regional market outlooks, will be on hand to share their insight and expertise.
The seminar will focus on both regional Middle East and global industry developments and their interactions. In the last three years, twelve new steam crackers have been commissioned in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, amounting to 12.7 million tons new ethylene capacity. The diversification into heavier feedstocks and on-purpose production routes has added 5.1 MT new propylene capacity; and there have been several world-scale aromatics complexes commissioned. But new supplies have been slower to materialize than expected. Combined with strong demand growth in Asia, particularly in China reacting to that country's unprecedented stimulus programs, the world has not yet been awash in Middle East derivatives, as had been feared in some regions.
The seminar itinerary is action-packed and includes a vast array of speakers and topics. Gary K Adams, President, CMAI, will kick-start proceedings with 'Bumps in the Road', an in-depth discussion on the future of the global chemicals and plastics markets. Global energy and feedstock viewpoints will be shared by Ravi Narayanaswamy, a managing consultant with Purvin & Gertz, Inc. Focusing on the regional Olefins situation and questioning suggestions that the world might be oversupplied will be Tony Potter, Managing Director, Middle East & India, CMAI.
Darren Smith, Managing Director, CMAI Asia, will provide his thoughts on target markets and investment in this vast continent, while another CMAI Director, Sanjay Sharma, will be sharing his Global Polyolefins Industry Outlook. The last speaker for the day is Simon Moorhouse, Director - Fiber Raw Materials, Europe, Middle East & Africa, CMAI, who will be talking on aromatics with delegates.
"This first-of-its-kind regional seminar is designed to harness the expertise, analytics and knowledge available within the CMAI and share it with our delegates through a program that is focused on educating industry professionals on current trends and core concepts," said Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA.
"In addition to awareness, another aim of the seminar is to promote greater interaction among delegates as they gear up for two days of healthy discussion and debate," he added.
Year after year the Annual Forum sees significant increases in attendance with attendance sky-rocketing since its inception in 2006. Last December, the Fourth Annual GPCA Forum drew 1,082 attendees from 43 different countries from several global majors including SABIC, Borouge, TASNEE, Equate, BASF, ExxonMobil, Dow Chemicals, Reliance, Shell and more. This number is poised to grow markedly in 2010.
Attendees to the forum from GPCA member companies can attend the seminar for free while non-GPCA member companies' attendees will be charged a nominal fee of USD 250.
