GCC's petchem sector raises workforce by 11% in 2011 

(MENAFN) The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association's (GPCA) Secretary General, Dr Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, stated that between 2010 and 2011, employment in the petrochemicals sector in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grew by 11 percent, reported Emirates 24/7.

Al-Sadoun said that the sector saw the addition of 34,564 jobs in the period.

He noted that in the UAE, the number of employees in the sector in 2011 stood at 8,000, which accounts for 2 percent of total employees in the manufacturing industry.

On the other hand, in 2011, the country's capital, Abu Dhabi, recorded a 21-percent year-on-year jump in revenue from the petrochemical sector, which reached USD2.7 billion.

Furthermore, the sector's total production was 6 million tons last year, representing 5 percent of the Gulf's total of 120 million tons.

It is worth noting that falling natural gas prices in the US and Canada to nearly USD3 per million British thermal units (Btu) at the current time from USD10 in mid-2008, challenge the feedstock cost advantage of Gulf petrochemicals producers that are experiencing fast growth in production and sales now.