ID :
208401
Tue, 09/20/2011 - 21:31
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http://m.oananews.org//node/208401
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Second GPCA Fertilizers Convention Kicks off
Doha, September 20 (QNA) - HE Minister Of Energy And Industry Dr. Mohammed bin saleh Al-Sada inaugurated here on Tuesday the Second GPCA Fertilizers Convention, organized by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association ("GPCA").
More than 260 high raking executives from 38 world countries are attending the three-day convention to discuss the remarkable developments the fertilizers industry has witnessed.
On the margins of the convention, HE the Energy And Industry Minister toured the event accompanied by dr. Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, the Secretary General of Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association ("GPCA"), Khalifa Al- Suwaidi, CEO of "QAFCO" and GPCA Board Member supported by the diligent team from our partner and co-organizer CRU and were briefed on the displays of the participant companies.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sada; in his inaugural speech called upon the regional fertilizers producers that though the Asian economies are on more solid ground and while some clouds still linger, the global economy and financial markets represent concern to all of us around the world and it may create uncertainties about the future growth of the global chemical industry. This may have an impact on the fertilizers demand which is historically influenced by changing and often interrelated factors such economic and population growth, agricultural production, prices and government policies.
He further said ,''High agriculture commodity prices over recent years led to increased fertilizers production to meet the strong demand as reflected in tight markets and higher fertilizer prices. Short-term demand for fertilizers is likely to remain strong driven by increased fertilizers consumption to support higher level of production for basic and high value food crops''.
Given that, GPCA believes that securing fertilizers supply to global markets can shield the world’s growing population from food shortage and mitigate the risk of food price spikes. We also believe that the recent volatility in agricultural and fertilizer prices is partly driven by the export restrictions and barriers to free trade. As participants in the global chemical industry, an industry whose customers and global citizens benefit from free trade, it is important for all of us to advocate free trade and open market policy.
GPCA is closely coordinating with our stakeholders including global trade associations to provide a strong voice of advocacy for our industry as governments around the world seek remedies for these issues. We at GPCA will spare no efforts in promoting and protecting our products which are consumed around the world, improving the daily lives of millions of people, said HE the minister of energy and industry.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sada said after welcoming the audience and the guests, to the Second GPCA Fertilizer Convention, one of the calendar events organized by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association.'' This year's edition of our conference come at the backdrop of the successful First Convention organized last year in Dubai, thanks to the concreted efforts and the valuable contribution from the GPCA Fertilizers Committee members led by Khalifa Al- Suwaidi, CEO of "QAFCO" and GPCA Board Member supported by the diligent team from our partner and co-organizer CRU.
I am especially delighted to have an outstanding array of distinguished speakers from around the world with valuable insight on the fertilizer industry and the global economy. I would like to welcome them all and thank them for accepting our invitation to share with us their vast experience and wisdom.
I am very pleased to note that the number of the delegates attending this gathering is expanding from year to year which reflects the emergence of this convention as a global platform where issues related to the Fertilizer Industry are discussed and debated.
Now, I will briefly address three topics that are important to our industry. Those are: the state of GPCA, the evolution of the Arabian Gulf Region as a major global hub for the production of fertilizers, and the key challenges facing the industry namely the status of the global economy that influence the market volatility which is the central theme of our conference this year.
The First topic is about the rapid growth of GPCA and the role it plays in our region and our industry. Since its launch on March 2006 by the eight visionary Gulf chemical producers, namely: Sabic and Tasnee from Saudi Arabia, QAPCO and QVC from Qatar, PIC and Equate from Kuwait, GPIC from Bahrain and Brogue from Abu Dhabi, GPCA has experienced rapid growth consistent with the growth of the chemical industry in the Gulf Region. This is reflected by the steady expansion of GPCA membership base which presently stands at 175 member companies.
As GPCA has grown, so have its activities offering multiple well organized forums and workshops focusing on common industry concerns and needs. Our Annual Forum had become the flagship of Petrochemical Conferences in the Middle East attracting over 1350 delegates in its fifth edition last December.
We are expanding our calendar of events which presently include Talent Convention, , Supply Chain Conference, Plastic Summit as well as our Fertilizer Convention. We are active in the area of Responsible Care , and organized various advocacy campaigns against rising protectionism and barriers to free trade.
More recently GPCA embarked on launching Awards to recognize best practices in regional downstream and allied industries such as the GPCA Plastic Innovation Awards and GPCA Supply Chain Excellence Awards.
The 2nd topic I would like to address is related to the emergence of the Arabian Gulf as a major global hub for the production of fertilizers. The Gulf region has been a participant in the global fertilizer industry since the 1960s when the first urea and ammonia plants were commissioned in Kuwait.
Since then, the industry had taken a consistent and exponential growth pattern. The combination of the abundance supply of natural gas and elemental sulfur, combined to give the Gulf region the key ingredients to play a significant role in the supply of nitrogen fertilizers to global markets. There are currently over 20 ammonia plants in the Gulf region, the majority are located in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. All those plants are integrated into downstream urea production. The Gulf region will see a number of projects that aim at adding capacity over the next few years.
According to IFA, there is a massive expansion throughout the Gulf region with new fertilizer capacities coming on stream by 2015 and accounting for 61% of the current production capacity.
By 2015, the combined fertilizers production capacities of the Gulf region will amount to about 45 million ton per annum. This massive expansion drive entails adding production capacities for ammonia, urea and phosphate fertilizers. This will further improve the global positioning of the Gulf region as a major production hub for fertilizers, both nitrogen- and phosphate-based over the next 5 years and hence enable our region to play an active role in contributing to global food security.
That said, our regional industry is being challenged on many fronts. Due to the fact that the Gulf Fertilizer Industry is predominantly export-oriented, the 3rd topics of my address will focus briefly on outlining two external challenges: the health of the global economy which influences demand for fertilizers and the export restrictions and Trade Barriers introduced in the global markets.
This Year, there is significant apprehension regarding the condition of the global economy particularly the economic downturn and the debit crises and its potential impact on sustainable growth of the global economy.
With this I conclude my introductory remarks and I thank you all for your kind attention and for participating in this Convention.
More than 260 high raking executives from 38 world countries are attending the three-day convention to discuss the remarkable developments the fertilizers industry has witnessed.
On the margins of the convention, HE the Energy And Industry Minister toured the event accompanied by dr. Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, the Secretary General of Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association ("GPCA"), Khalifa Al- Suwaidi, CEO of "QAFCO" and GPCA Board Member supported by the diligent team from our partner and co-organizer CRU and were briefed on the displays of the participant companies.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sada; in his inaugural speech called upon the regional fertilizers producers that though the Asian economies are on more solid ground and while some clouds still linger, the global economy and financial markets represent concern to all of us around the world and it may create uncertainties about the future growth of the global chemical industry. This may have an impact on the fertilizers demand which is historically influenced by changing and often interrelated factors such economic and population growth, agricultural production, prices and government policies.
He further said ,''High agriculture commodity prices over recent years led to increased fertilizers production to meet the strong demand as reflected in tight markets and higher fertilizer prices. Short-term demand for fertilizers is likely to remain strong driven by increased fertilizers consumption to support higher level of production for basic and high value food crops''.
Given that, GPCA believes that securing fertilizers supply to global markets can shield the world’s growing population from food shortage and mitigate the risk of food price spikes. We also believe that the recent volatility in agricultural and fertilizer prices is partly driven by the export restrictions and barriers to free trade. As participants in the global chemical industry, an industry whose customers and global citizens benefit from free trade, it is important for all of us to advocate free trade and open market policy.
GPCA is closely coordinating with our stakeholders including global trade associations to provide a strong voice of advocacy for our industry as governments around the world seek remedies for these issues. We at GPCA will spare no efforts in promoting and protecting our products which are consumed around the world, improving the daily lives of millions of people, said HE the minister of energy and industry.
Dr. Mohammed Al-Sada said after welcoming the audience and the guests, to the Second GPCA Fertilizer Convention, one of the calendar events organized by the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association.'' This year's edition of our conference come at the backdrop of the successful First Convention organized last year in Dubai, thanks to the concreted efforts and the valuable contribution from the GPCA Fertilizers Committee members led by Khalifa Al- Suwaidi, CEO of "QAFCO" and GPCA Board Member supported by the diligent team from our partner and co-organizer CRU.
I am especially delighted to have an outstanding array of distinguished speakers from around the world with valuable insight on the fertilizer industry and the global economy. I would like to welcome them all and thank them for accepting our invitation to share with us their vast experience and wisdom.
I am very pleased to note that the number of the delegates attending this gathering is expanding from year to year which reflects the emergence of this convention as a global platform where issues related to the Fertilizer Industry are discussed and debated.
Now, I will briefly address three topics that are important to our industry. Those are: the state of GPCA, the evolution of the Arabian Gulf Region as a major global hub for the production of fertilizers, and the key challenges facing the industry namely the status of the global economy that influence the market volatility which is the central theme of our conference this year.
The First topic is about the rapid growth of GPCA and the role it plays in our region and our industry. Since its launch on March 2006 by the eight visionary Gulf chemical producers, namely: Sabic and Tasnee from Saudi Arabia, QAPCO and QVC from Qatar, PIC and Equate from Kuwait, GPIC from Bahrain and Brogue from Abu Dhabi, GPCA has experienced rapid growth consistent with the growth of the chemical industry in the Gulf Region. This is reflected by the steady expansion of GPCA membership base which presently stands at 175 member companies.
As GPCA has grown, so have its activities offering multiple well organized forums and workshops focusing on common industry concerns and needs. Our Annual Forum had become the flagship of Petrochemical Conferences in the Middle East attracting over 1350 delegates in its fifth edition last December.
We are expanding our calendar of events which presently include Talent Convention, , Supply Chain Conference, Plastic Summit as well as our Fertilizer Convention. We are active in the area of Responsible Care , and organized various advocacy campaigns against rising protectionism and barriers to free trade.
More recently GPCA embarked on launching Awards to recognize best practices in regional downstream and allied industries such as the GPCA Plastic Innovation Awards and GPCA Supply Chain Excellence Awards.
The 2nd topic I would like to address is related to the emergence of the Arabian Gulf as a major global hub for the production of fertilizers. The Gulf region has been a participant in the global fertilizer industry since the 1960s when the first urea and ammonia plants were commissioned in Kuwait.
Since then, the industry had taken a consistent and exponential growth pattern. The combination of the abundance supply of natural gas and elemental sulfur, combined to give the Gulf region the key ingredients to play a significant role in the supply of nitrogen fertilizers to global markets. There are currently over 20 ammonia plants in the Gulf region, the majority are located in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. All those plants are integrated into downstream urea production. The Gulf region will see a number of projects that aim at adding capacity over the next few years.
According to IFA, there is a massive expansion throughout the Gulf region with new fertilizer capacities coming on stream by 2015 and accounting for 61% of the current production capacity.
By 2015, the combined fertilizers production capacities of the Gulf region will amount to about 45 million ton per annum. This massive expansion drive entails adding production capacities for ammonia, urea and phosphate fertilizers. This will further improve the global positioning of the Gulf region as a major production hub for fertilizers, both nitrogen- and phosphate-based over the next 5 years and hence enable our region to play an active role in contributing to global food security.
That said, our regional industry is being challenged on many fronts. Due to the fact that the Gulf Fertilizer Industry is predominantly export-oriented, the 3rd topics of my address will focus briefly on outlining two external challenges: the health of the global economy which influences demand for fertilizers and the export restrictions and Trade Barriers introduced in the global markets.
This Year, there is significant apprehension regarding the condition of the global economy particularly the economic downturn and the debit crises and its potential impact on sustainable growth of the global economy.
With this I conclude my introductory remarks and I thank you all for your kind attention and for participating in this Convention.
