Omani non-hydrocarbon exports set to hit new peak next year

Omani non-hydrocarbon exports set to hit new peak next year

MUSCAT: Omani non-hydrocarbon exports are projected to reach an all-time high of 26.9 per cent of GDP in 2023, bolstered by an uptick in the mining, plastics and chemicals sectors, according to a report by Fitch Solutions, an affiliate of Fitch Ratings.

The London-based think-tank said that the robust growth of non-hydrocarbon exports will help offset an anticipated decline in energy exports as a looming global downturn threatens to weaken energy demand in 2023.

“We hold a more bullish view on non-hydrocarbon exports in 2023 as we think more production capacity will become available for export in the mining, plastics and chemicals sectors,” Fitch Solutions noted in its report.

It attributed this optimistic outlook to a number of enabling developments across the sectors in question, for example, the opening of new mining sites for development by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals.

Likewise, OQ Group – the Sultanate of Oman’s national energy company – has continued to invest in additional production capacity for plastics, with the establishment of a plastics park in Sohar Industrial City in partnership Madayn. And in Salalah, OQ’s new ammonia plant will drive up the production of chemicals, it said.

“These efforts will increase non-hydrocarbon exports to an all-time high of