Bahrain origin goods export tops $342m

THE value of national origin products exported from Bahrain was BD130 million ($342 million) in October, 88 per cent of them going to the top 10 ranked countries and 12 per cent to other countries, a report said.

Imports value reached BD360 million during October, added the Foreign Trade Report for Non-Oil Products released by Information & eGovernment Authority (IGA).

Bahrain’s non-oil trade deficit, or the difference between value of imports and exports, was BD204 million during the month.

China has been ranked as the first country that exports to Bahrain with BD50 million, United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked as the second with BD32 million, while the USA has been ranked as the third with BD30 million.

Non-agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product imported to Bahrain with BD22 million, while the four-wheel drive cars as the second with BD20 million. Aluminium Oxide were the third products with BD17 million.

The US has been ranked as the first country importing from Bahrain with BD27 million, Saudi Arabia ranked as the second with BD23 million and Qatar comes third place with BD23 million. Agglomerated iron ores and concentrates emerged as the top product exported from Bahrain with BD37 million, Aluminium wire as the second products with BD16 million, where rectangular alloyed aluminium plates took third products exported with BD14 million during October.

Saudi cement sales down 7pc, inventories rise

THE total cement sales in Saudi Arabia fell 6.8 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) to 47 million tonnes in the first 10 months from 50.2 million tonnes for the same period last year, said a report.

The clinker production too slightly declined 1.7 per cent y-o-y, stated top Saudi lender Al Rajhi Capital in its report.

Also the total cement sector revenues declined 19 per cent y-o-y on the back of lower sales volume (down 10.5 per cent y-o-y) and drop in the average realised price/tonne for most of the companies. Similarly, the aggregate net income came in at SR853 million ($227 million) – down 22 per cent y-o-y – mainly due to a sharp increase in cost of goods sold.

In a sign of continuing woes for the industry, the Saudi cement inventories continued to rise with a 16.4 per cent year-on-year growth driven by a fall in sales volumes and record production levels, said the Al Rajhi Capital Research report.

Interestingly, the aggregate clinker production increased one per cent on a year-on-year basis in spite of a 15 per cent y-o-y drop in dispatches probably to benefit in case of further increase in energy prices.

According to the latest data released by Yamama Cement, the total cement dispatches in the kingdom fell 15 per cent y-o-y, but grew 29 per cent month-on-month (m-o-m) to 4.32 million tonnes in October. The total inventory climbed 16.4 per cent y-o-y and 1.7 per cent m-o-m to a new record of 28.2 million tonesn, representing 49 per cent of the last 12 months› sales. Surprisingly, the clinker production came in at 4.5 million tonnes during October, up one per cent y-o-y (+24 per cent m-o-m).

Electric motor market to top $127bn by 2021

THE electric motor sales market is expected to grow from an estimated $94.23 billion in 2016 to $127.63 billion by 2021, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.26 per cent, according to a report.

The increased use of motors across major industries, growing agricultural sector, and transition toward energy-efficient motors are the key factors driving the electric motor sales market across the globe, said the report by MarketsandMarkets, a top business research firm.

The report pointed out that the dominant players were trying to penetrate developing economies and were adopting various methods to grab the market share.

New product launches was the most common strategy adopted by the top players in the market, constituting more than one-third of the total development share. It was followed by new contracts and agreements, mergers and acquisitions, and expansions, respectively, said the report.

Saudi diesel gensets growth ‘set to decline’

OWING to poor grid infrastructure in the country, coupled with rising need for consistent and reliable source of electricity the demand for diesel gensets in Saudi Arabia will grow, but marginally in the next five years, says a new report.

Diesel gensets are deployed in building modern infrastructure to provide prime, back-up and peak power for the entire setup, according to a report from TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.

Moreover, as per Ministry of Water and Electricity, Saudi Arabia’s peak electricity is projected to reach 90,000MW by 2022, coupled with growing crude oil production to drive demand for diesel gensets in the coming years.

Crude oil production in Saudi Arabia is forecast to exhibit a CAGR of 1.29 per cent during 2011-2020, and is projected to reach 12.5 million barrels per day by 2020. Thus, rising crude oil production, coupled with increasing infrastructure activities to drive the market of diesel gensets in the country through 2021.

Saudi Arabia diesel gensets market was dominated by northern and central region, as both the region cumulatively accounted for highest volume shares in 2015, and the regions are anticipated to continue to dominate the market through 2021, owing to favourable government support that are fuelling infrastructural development activities in this region, particularly in cities like Riyadh and Jeddah.

Steam generators market to reach $13bn

THE global steam generators market for nuclear power is set to rise from a cumulative $7.3 billion between 2010 and 2015 to $13.9 billion between 2016 and 2025, according to a report by research and consulting firm GlobalData.

Additionally, Asia-Pacific (Apac) is expected to emerge as the dominant region, accounting for 47.2 per cent of global market value by the end of the forecast period, added the report.

The company’s latest report states that in the Apac region Japan, China, South Korea, India, Taiwan, and Pakistan currently include nuclear power in their energy mix, and Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam have firm plans to construct nuclear reactors by 2025.

In 2015, Japan had the highest nuclear installed capacity with 40.3 Gigawatts (GW), followed by China with 26.8 GW, and South Korea with 21.7 GW. India, Taiwan and Pakistan collectively had nuclear installed capacity of 11.5 GW. China is expected to emerge as the leading country in the region by 2017 with 43.9 GW, followed by Japan with 39 GW.

Nitika Bhardwaj, GlobalData›s analyst covering power, said: “Key advantages associated with nuclear power, such as the ability to produce consistent power to serve baseload requirements and the ability to generate electricity with a minimal environmental impact, are driving a number of nations to consider nuclear energy as a means to address increasing power demand.”