In the US film The Graduate, a family friend offers the protagonist, played by Dustin Hoffman, some simple career advice: “I want to say one word to you. Just one word. Plastics.”
It is counsel the Gulf states have heeded. Seeking to capitalise on their comparative advantage – abundant and cheap access to hydrocarbons, the building blocks for many petrochemicals – governments have invested heavily in domestic industries.
The credit crunch, however, has thumped the chemical industry in recent months. A collapse in global manufacturing has sent the price of plastics, synthetic rubber and other petrochemical products tumbling – and with them, the profits of the industry.
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