Earnings of key petrochemical makers in the Middle East are expected to fall drastically during the fourth quarter of the current year amid low demand caused by a global economic meltdown. Info Prod Research said most of the Arab public companies that had registered increase of about 18 percent year-n-year in the third quarter of this year had failed to do the same in the fourth quarter. This is forecast to result in increasing inventory levels at plants, and delays in plant start ups of new petrochemical projects. The main petrochemical companies in the region are Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC), Industries Qatar, Yanbu National Petrochemicals Company (Yansab), Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company (Kayan), National Industrialization Company (Tasnee), Sahara Petrochemical Company, Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Company (Petrorabigh). The market capitalization of SABIC, the largest petrochemical company in the Middle East, is $43 billion, while that of Europe's largest petrochem company (BASF of Germany) is around $27 billion, whereas Dow Chemicals is about $18 billion, and that of the largest Asian company Formosa Plastic is $8.5 billion. Meanwhile, the Kuwait Electricity and Water Ministry has awarded a KD69.4 million ($257 million) contract to India's Kalpataru Power Transmission for the supply and installation of high tension overhead lines. Kalpataru is a leading firm in turnkey projects.
