The COVID-19 pandemic of the last 15 months has demonstrated the acute importance of collaboration to build more agile, resilient, and responsive supply chains, said industry leaders at the 12th Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Supply Chain Conference, which was held virtually on 26-27 May. 

Senior executives from across the chemical and petrochemical value chain, logistics service providers and shipping operators urged industry leaders to capitalise on the lessons learned during the pandemic and act upon them in the future – from collaborating more closely with the regulators, their customers, and strategic partners, to driving better supply chain visibility, investing in digitalisation, building their workforce capabilities, and focusing on supply chain sustainability. 

In his keynote address, Hamad Alterkait, chairman of the Kuwait based company, PIC, (pictured) encouraged chemical leaders to engage in supply chain collaboration even with their competitors and keep their inventory in close customer proximity to improve their reliability and better serve their end markets. 

He told attendees: “Regional chemical producers must diversify their supply base even if it means incurring higher costs in order to cushion the impact from any future crisis. Companies must also explore out of the box supply chain solutions, using different scenarios, which may aid in addressing important challenges at a critical time.” 

Echoing Alterkait’s remarks on the importance of collaboration were Hosam Al-Zamil, VP, Global Supply Chain, SABIC; Ahmed Abdulla Al-Salahi, CCO, Q-Chem; and Ahmed Al-Katheeri, SVP – Supply Chain Management, Borouge, in the conference’s inaugural panel on the future of chemical supply chains. The COVID-19 pandemic was a test to chemical supply chains’ resilience, as it demonstrated that the world is one global community, panelists said. 

The theme of the 12th GPCA Supply Chain Conference was ‘Powering a resilient, responsive and agile supply chain’. It attracted over 1,300 attendees from 450 companies in 62 countries. 

For more information visit www.gpcasupplychain.com

1st June 2021