Qatar’s contract awards may touch $30bn this year

Qatar 2014 contract awards are already larger than last year and may touch $30bn for the “very first time” in 2014, a report has shown.

The value of contracts awarded in Qatar in the first nine months of 2014 is already greater than the whole of 2013, as the local projects market accelerates in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Meed Projects data show.

The projects tracker said some $22.5bn worth of contracts were awarded in Qatar in nine months up to September,  compared with $22.3bn worth of deals awarded in the whole of 2013.

“With several major contracts due to be awarded in the final quarter of the year, Qatar could record $30bn worth of annual contracts for the very first time,” Meed Projects said.

“It has been almost four years since Qatar was announced as the host of the FIFA 2022 World Cup, and it’s fair to say that it is only recently that the market has started to see the a significant ramp-up in infrastructure investment,” said Ed James, director (Analysis) at Meed Projects.

“From 2010 to 2012 annual contract awards were running at $10bn-$15bn, so we are seeing a marked and sustained increase in project activity in the state as it ensures it has the infrastructure in place in time for the event.”

Major projects awarded in the past 12 months include the estimated $3.3bn tunnelling package on the Doha Metro’s Gold Line, the $1bn-plus Lusail Light Railway, and various packages on the New Orbital Highway and Truck road, totalling $4.6bn.

The increase in project activity in Qatar makes it the third largest projects market in the GCC after the UAE and Saudi Arabia. With the World Cup just eight years away, the likelihood is that the market is only going to become bigger.

“With major projects such as the estimated $2bn-$3bn mega water security reservoirs, the $5bn Sharq Crossing, and remaining packages on the multi-billion dollar Expressway, IDRIS and Local Roads & Drainage programmes all due to be awarded over the next 24 months, contractors, consultants and suppliers alike can be confident that Qatar will remain one of the most attractive and stable projects market opportunities in the region,” James said.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the largest sector this year has been transport, which has been boosted by large contract awards in the roads and metro sectors. Construction, supported by major deals on the Lusail, Mshereib and Katara projects, has been the other primary sector.

The high value of work in Qatar has proved lucrative to local and international contractors alike.

Qatar-based Al-Jaber Engineering is the top ranked contractor by value of work awarded over the last year, with just over $2bn worth of contracts, followed closely by India’s Larsen & Toubro and the local QDVC.

Between June and September, Meed Projects undertook a programme of visiting and logging every site where a new building is planned, on hold or under construction in the Greater Doha area.

Details, including GPS co-ordinates and site photographs, have been captured for more than 400 projects worth $10mn and above. The programme has revealed 300 previously unrecorded projects at an early stage of development, which now appear in Meed Projects.