Egypt helped the Middle East record the highest value of deals let to date in 2018, with the country’s $7.8bn of contracts signed forming the largest contribution to the $14.6bn of deals awarded in the region in September.

September contract awards by country
Country Award ($m)
Egypt 7,773
UAE 2,656
Iran 1,976
Saudi Arabia 817
Qatar 564
Kuwait 454
Bahrain 283
Oman 64

While the UAE added its usual $2bn-plus of contract awards to the total, the rest of the GCC failed to break the $1bn mark, with usual heavyweight Saudi Arabia signing only $817m of deals. This left Iran to bring up the total value of contracts let in the region, with the Islamic Republic awarding almost $2bn of deals.

The construction sector recorded the second-largest value of contracts signed in September, with $4.6bn of deals let. The largest was a $2.9bn contract awarded by Egypt’s Administrative Capital City for Urban Development to CSCEC to construct the second phase of the central business district at The Capital Cairo development.The petrochemicals sector dominated the value of contracts signed in September, with the largest deal let in Egypt a $4.9bn contract awarded by the Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources to China State Construction & Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) to build an 8 million-tonne refining and petrochemicals plant in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Looking forward, the chemicals industry is predicted to present huge growth potential, with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and other regional producers expecting petrochemicals to provide significant growth in the next two decades.

The transport industry recorded the third-largest value of deals let in September, with the largest a $1.4bn contract signed between Islamic Republic of Iran Railways and Italy’s Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane for the construction of a high-speed rail project between the cities of Qom and Arak in Iran.

In keeping with the upward trend in monthly contract awards, the value of deals let in the third quarter of 2018 slightly surpassed the value recorded in the same period last year, with $33.4bn of contracts signed in the third quarter this year compared with $33.3bn in the third quarter of 2017.

Within the GCC, however, the trend for the remainder of the year appears grim, according to regional projects tracker MEED Projects. The tracker forecasts that on a pro rata basis, the value of awards in the bloc is unlikely reach $100bn this year, let alone the $120bn required to match last year’s total, or the figure of $113bn recorded in 2016. While the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are predicted to perform as expected, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman are forecast to do considerably worse than anticipated.

Contract awards as reported on www.meed.com
Country Project Contractor Client Estimated value ($m)
UAE Build the sixth phase of the Town Square development in Dubai Beaver Gulf Group Nshama na
Bahrain Expansion of the Tubli wastewater plant Consortium of Azmeel, Tecton and WTE Water Technology Ministry of Works, Municipalities Affairs & Urban Planning 364
UAE Build the Andaz Hotel development in Dubai Ssangyong Engineering & Construction Wasl na
Saudi Arabia Construction of two drilling islands under the Berri Increment Programme China Harbour Engineering Arabia Saudi Aramco na
Qatar Construct a health center at Al Wakra na Public Works Authority na
Qatar Construct a health center at Al-Sadd Al-Madar Group Public Works Authority na
Qatar Construct a health center at Al-Meshaf Imperial Trading & Contracting Company Public Works Authority na
Qatar Construct a health center at Ain Khalid Al-Tawfeeq Trading and Contracting Public Works Authority na
Qatar Construct national laboratories in Mesaimeer Al-Sraiya Group Public Works Authority na
UAE Phase 2 of the Integrated Gas Development (IGD 2) in Abu Dhabi Joint venture of Tecnicas Reunidas and Target Engineering Adnoc LNG 860
UAE Build two residential towers at Dragon City in Dubai Ali Mousa & Sons Nakheel 150
UAE Construction of first infrastructure package for the Aljada real estate development in Sharjah BIC Contracting Arada 28
UAE Act One Act Two project – Construction of two commercial and residential buildings overlooking the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Opera House China State Construction Engineering Corporation Emaar 218
Iran Construction of a 10-million barrel crude oil storage depot at the Jask port Group of Petroleum Engineering and Development Company, Petro Omid Asia and Omid Investment Management Group National Iranian Oil Company 704
UAE Expand Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port National Marine Dredging Company Abu Dhabi Ports 272

Contract awards as reported on meedprojects.com
Country Name Project Industry Contract Value ($m)
Qatar ASHGHAL – Health Center Package 6 (Al Meshaf ) Construction 30
UAE Private Developer – Mall in Al Nahda (Permit number : 2018/1005) Construction 10
Saudi Arabia Al Madina Al Munawarah Development Authority – Wadi Al Aqeeq Rehabilitation Transport 133
UAE Al Falah Plaza – Lulu Hypermarket & Department Store at Al Saja’a Construction 24
UAE Transco : Shamkha – Sweihan 400kV OHL And Associated Substations (N-15924) Power 50
Qatar ASHGHAL – National Laboratories Building (BA 2017 C004G) Construction 66
UAE Al Fahim Group – Avani Hotel Suites & Branded Residences   (Plot No. A/002/038) Construction 100
Qatar ASHGHAL – LRDP – Doha West: West Muaither (Al Manaseer) P03 Transport 134
Kuwait PAHW – Sabah Al Ahmed Township: 390 Apartment Complex (PAHW/M/1128-2017/2018) Construction 110
Iran IIRR – Qom-Arak High-Speed Rail Network Transport 1,370
Kuwait PAHW – West Abdullah Al-Mubarak : Public Buildings at Block 01,05&06 (Sector NA) Construction 120
UAE Deyaar – Midtown : Bella Rose Construction 80
UAE Binghatti Developers – Binghatti Boutique at Al Jaddaf Construction 20
UAE Binghatti Developers – Jumeirah Village Circle : Binghatti Gate Construction 24
UAE Private Developer – Dubailand: Residential Building at Majan (Plot No 6453197) Construction 26
Saudi Arabia RCJ&Y – P&C Of Red Crescent Building & Completion Of RIC Facilities Construction 28
UAE Dubai Properties – Dubailand : Villanova: Amaranta 3 Construction 120
UAE Wasl – La Mer : Andaz Hotel Construction 62
Saudi Arabia RCJ&Y – Jubail Industrial City: Schools In Jalmudah & Mutrafiah Construction 30
UAE Borouge – Anteo Production Plant In Ruwais Chemical 80
Egypt Al Dau Development – Al Dau Strand Construction 70
Qatar ASHGHAL – Health Center Package 7 (Ain Khalid) Construction 24
Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco – Labor Accommodation and Supporting Facilities Zone F1 (Package 8) Construction 160
Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco – Labor Accommodation and Supporting Facilities Zone E (Package 9) Construction 80
Egypt ACCUD – The Capital Cairo: Central Business District Phase 2 Construction 2,800
Egypt NREA – 26 MW PV Power Plant in Kom Ombo Power 23
Egypt MoP – Oil Refining and Petrochemical Complex in Suez Canal Economic Zone Chemical 4,880
Iran National Iranian Oil Company – Goureh – Jask Pipeline: Phase1 – Khuzestan Oil 280
Saudi Arabia RCJ&Y – Catering, Auditorium & Recreation Facilities (Tender No. 097-C76R) Construction 100
UAE Nakheel – Dragon City : Dragon Towers Construction 150
UAE Adnoc Onshore – OGD 0 & OGD II : Replacement of Aging Network Gas 35
UAE Transco – Mirfa Pumping Station & Pipeline to Madinat Zayed (N14673.2) Water 38
UAE Lootah Real Estate – DIP : Ewan Residence (Plot No : 598-1776) Construction 10
Saudi Arabia MMRA – Nakheel City (Dates) Construction 26
Kuwait PAHW – 400/132/11 kV Transformer Station at South Al Mutlaa (2Z) Power 48
Qatar Ashghal – Health Center at Al Wakra: Package 11 Construction 12
UAE Aurora Real Estate – Hyati Avenue in JVC Construction 5
Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco – MFD : Tanajib Gas Plant – Temporary Construction Facilities Transport 100
Qatar ASHGHAL – Health Center Package 10 (Al Sadd) Construction 46
Iran IIPGC – Crystal Melamine Petrochemical Park Chemical 326
UAE ADPC – Khalifa Port: 33/11 kV Substation (Tender No. 2101/235) Power 19
Oman PEIE – Expansion of Raysut Industrial Estate-Raysut 2(Tender-1/2018/PEIE/HQ-1) Transport 40
UAE Adnoc LNG – IGD Expansion 2 Gas 860
UAE Nakheel – Dubai Waterfront: Madinat Al Arab (Infrastructure Works) Transport 140
UAE Nakheel – Jumeirah Park : The Hub Construction 9
Kuwait PAHW – 400/132/11 kV Transformer Station at South Al Mutlaa (4Z) Power 48
Bahrain MOW – SKBS Highway Widening Phase-1 (Al Farooq to Saar Interchange) Transport 203
Saudi Arabia SABIC – Yanbu Technology Center Industrial 80
Saudi Arabia Saudi Aramco – Offices and Supporting Facilities Zone F2 (Package 7) Construction 80
UAE Nshama – Town Square: Sama Townhouses Construction 80
Bahrain BAPCO – Refinery Upgrade: Asphalt Unit Oil 80
Qatar ASHGHAL – LRDP – Doha West: West Muaither (Al Manaseer) P02 Transport 153
Qatar ASHGHAL – LRDP – Doha West : West Muaither (Al Manaseer) P01 Transport 99
UAE Dar Al Khaleej – Warehouse & Office Building in Production City Construction 12
Oman SEZAD – Service Road at Aman District in Duqm (Tender No. 2/2018) Transport 24
UAE Park Line – Dubai Supreme Court complex Construction 60
UAE Pyrotec – Warehouse at JAFZA (Plot no. S60106) Industrial 15
Kuwait PAHW – 400/132/11 kV Transformer Station at South Al Mutlaa (3Z) Power 48
UAE SEWA – Layyah Power Station Power 599
UAE ARADA – Aljada Urban District: Infrastructure Package: Phase 1 Transport 28
Kuwait KOC – 132/11 kV Substation & Associated Electrical Line Works in SE (Nos.3) Power 80
Total The full value for 61 projects across the Mena region 14,587
Data from meedprojects.com as of 10 October 2018. For more information, visit MEED Projects