Prospects of the GCC cement industry
The cement demand growth rate in Saudi Arabia declined to 2.4 % in 2014 from 13.2 % in 2013. The country has about a 60 % market share in the GCC. But despite falling oil prices and challenging fiscal budgets in the GCC, the cement industry is expected to revive, due to huge construction investments in the region. The following market review takes a detailed look into the cement industry, reviews the market drivers and gives an outlook to 2019.
1 Introduction
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) consists of the six Islamic monarchies of Bahrain, Kuwait, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (Fig. 1). The GCC countries have a combined land area of 2.67 million km², a population of about 51.6 million and a nominal GDP of 1.65 US$ bn, which corresponds to an average of 33 000 US$ per capita, with the highest in Qatar and the lowest in Oman. The GCC economy is largely dependent on its hydrocarbon sector. As a result of the decline in oil prices the countries are experiencing large losses of fiscal...