Index slips as projects are put on hold

21 October 2010

Gulf projects tracker falls as major schemes stall in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Contract awards 20 October 2010

Biggest contract: $1.5bn

Saudi Acrylic Monomer Company (Samco) has awarded Germany’s Linde and South Korea’s Samsung Engineering the EPC contract for a petrochemicals plant at Jubail

$2.2bn: Value of major contract awards

5: Number of contracts awarded

For further information visit www.meed.com/contracts

The total value of major projects planned or under way in the Gulf on 20 October was $2.93 trillion, a decrease of 0.4 per cent on the previous week, according to the latest Gulf Projects Index.

According to the tracker, the bulk of the decrease was as a result of a fall in the GCC market, which accounts for about 78 per cent of the Gulf projects market.

Project updates this week
 Project NameProject Status
KuwaitJurassic Non Associated Gas Reserves Expansion: Phase IIConstruction
Saudi ArabiaJubail Acrylic ComplexConstruction
UAEShuweihat 3 IPPConstruction
Saudi ArabiaRehabilitation Centres for PrisonersConstruction
UAEUnited SquareTender
For further information visit www.meed.com/meedprojects

The index shows that the GCC market fell by 0.5 per cent to $2.29 trillion on 20 October. Some large projects in the UAE and Saudi Arabia being put on hold caused the decrease.

The UAE witnessed a 0.7 per cent decrease in the value of projects planned or under way to $910bn from the previous week’s index of $917bn. Two tramway projects in Dubai and the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi were put on hold during the week.

Saudi Arabia, the region’s second biggest projects market, saw a 0.7 per cent decrease in the value of projects planned or under way. The fall was due to three projects being put on hold. The $4bn GCC Water Grid, a $700m steel billet plant in Dammam and the $150m Onaizah resort have all been put on hold.

The project markets in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Oman, Iran and Iraq recorded no change from the previous week’s index.

Bahrain was the only country to record a positive growth. This was due to the announcement of the upcoming $211m Twin Towers project in Bahrain Bay.

The overall projects index is still positive when compared with the previous year, with the Gulf achieving a 9.3 per cent year-on-year increase.

Iraq maintains its position as the region’s fastest growing market by recording a 122.4 per cent year-on-year increase.

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