Declines in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and UAE also drag down Gulf index
The projects market in Iran fell by 7.2 per cent in the week ending 1 October, despite performing well in recent weeks as several major schemes were revived in anticipation of sanctions being lifted by the first quarter of 2016.
As a result, the drop in Irans market was the main contributing factor to the Gulf Projects Index contracting 1 per cent overall during the week. The Islamic Republic was not alone in seeing its projects market fall, however, as a number of other countries also witnessed slowdowns.
In numbers
$1.5bn Value of Saudi Aramcos completed sulphur recovery unit
7.3 per cent Contraction of Irans projects market
3 Number of new projects in Saudi Arabia
Qatar was the second-worst performing market in the week, with a drop of 2.6 per cent in its index. The reduction was mainly due to the $9bn Doha Airport City scheme being put on hold once again with no sign of the project making new progress.
Kuwaits projects market declined by 0.9 per cent this week. Despite the addition of the $500m Kuwait airport expansion, the cancellation of the $3bn Doha East power and desalination plant brought down the markets performance.
| Project updates this week | ||
|---|---|---|
| Project name | Project status | |
| Iran | Golshan Gas and Ferdowsi oil and gas fields development | On hold |
| Kuwait | Doha East power and desalination plant | Cancelled |
| Qatar | Tertiary hospital on Rumaila Hospital campus | Study |
| Saudi Arabia | Sulphur recovery unit | Complete |
| UAE | Dubai Industrial City | Execution |
| For further information visit www.meedprojects.com/home | ||
Saudi Arabias market contracted again, dropping 0.6 per cent following weak performances in recent weeks. Only $360m-worth of construction projects were added to the kingdoms index this week and the completion of a major $1.5bn Aramco sulphur recovery unit contributed to the fall.
The UAEs projects market fell 0.1 per cent. Revived projects, such as Dubai Holdings industrial city scheme, failed to alleviate the impact of cancelled, delayed and completed projects.
| Upcoming tender deadlines | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Client | Contract | Submission date | |
| UAE | Dubai Municipality | Jebel Ali sewage treatment plant | 18-Oct |
| Kuwait | Kuwait Oil Company | Jurassic gas project Ð development of three oil fields | 27-Oct |
| Saudi Arabia | Saudi Electricity Company/Saudi Aramco | Fadhili independent power project | 01-Nov |
| Kuwait | Ministry of Electricity & Water | Conversion of Subiya power plant to a combined-cycle facility | 03-Nov |
| UAE | Roads & Transport Authority | Route 2020 metro extension | 06-Dec |
| For further information visit www.meed.com/news/tenders | |||
Bahrain, on the other hand, witnessed a 0.9 per cent increase in its projects market due to the announcement of several small real estate schemes, as well as the revival of the $300m Kooheji Groups Bahrain Bay KGH Tower.
Iraqs index increased by 0.1 per cent, following a 0.5 per cent increase the previous week. Iraqs increase was again boosted by activity in the Kurdish region, as the rest of the country struggles to press ahead with projects due to security and financing issues.
The revival of a $153m Kempinksi-branded hotel in the Iraqi Kurdistan region was added to Iraqs index this week.
You might also like...
AD Ports secures Angola port concession agreement
25 April 2024
Abu Dhabi makes major construction investments
25 April 2024
Saudi Arabia seeks K9 PPP project interest
25 April 2024
Kuwait reviews 1.1GW solar prequalifications
25 April 2024
A MEED Subscription...
Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.
