Qatar sees spike in factory activities in Q2: ValuStrat
As of June 2021, 130 companies have been reported to operate from Qatar Free Zones
QATAR continued to attract local and foreign investments as a number of companies announced setting up factories in the country in the second quarter of 2021, ValuStrat has said in its latest report.
As of June 2021, the report said, 130 companies have been reported to operate from Qatar Free ones in sectors such as logistics, technology and services.
Baladna, Qatar’s largest locallyowned food and dairy producer, announced setting up a new factory for evaporated milk and expansion of current butter processing facilities in the second quarter of this year. The facilities are expected to be completed by 2022, the report said.
Jotun, paints and coatings manufacturer, announced a new production facility to be built in New Industrial Area by the fourth quarter of 2021 with a capacity to produce 20 million litres of paint annually
During April 2021, the report said, manufacturing output in Qatar increased 9 percent compared to April 2020 and declined 3.2 percent compared to March 2021 as per the latest Industrial Production Index published by MDPS.
“As per Mwani Qatar, Hamad, Ruwais and Doha Port handled 819,2 3 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) containers in the first half of 2021, up by 22 percent year-on-year ( o ),” the report said.
As of the second quarter of 2021, the report said, average asking rent for dry warehouses was QR 3 per sq m, an increase of percent quarteron-quarter (QoQ) and 1 percent o .
Average asking rent for temperature-controlled warehouses grew percent QoQ and 7 percent o , with asking rents typically ranging between QR 0-80 per sq m, it said.
“Average asking rent for warehouses in Al Wakrah, Birkat Al Awamer and Al Wukair areas was at QR 2 per sq m, remaining unchanged compared to the previous quarter and the same period last year,” the report said.
Providing an outlook for Qatar’s overall economy, the report said, “The World Bank has forecast Qatar’s economy to grow by 3 percent in 2021 indicating the state is on the path of recovery from economic shock induced by the pandemic on the back of growth in the hydrocarbon sector.”
“The Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced a surplus of QR200 million during the first quarter of 2021 driven by the recovery of oil prices, with a total expenditure of QR billion, of which QR .6 billion was spent on new projects,” the report said.
As per the latest data released by Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA), the report said, real GDP of Qatar contracted by 2. percent o during the first quarter of 2021.
“During the first two months of the second quarter of 2021, export revenue surged. The boom in exports from Qatar has been mainly due to exponential increase in exports to Asia,” the report said.
During the second quarter of 2021, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) stood at 97.6 points (the base year 2018) indicating an increase of 1.8 percent annually and 1.7 percent QoQ, the report said adding that housing and utility expenses index decreased .9 percent
o and 3.1 percent QoQ.