Qatar Moves to Set Up Fifth Petrochemical Plant
March 1, 1999 - 0:0
DOHA Despite a slump in its petrochemical sector, Qatar on Sunday moved towards setting up its fifth export-oriented petrochemical plant, officials in the Persian Gulf Arab state said. It is a good time to go ahead with expansion even though it is a low cycle, Minister of Energy and Industry Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said after signing a letter of understanding for the project with Italy's Enichem, the chemical unit of ENI. The trough will not last forever.
It will wither away by the time the project starts producing, he told reporters. The deal calls for a pre-feasibility study to set up a $250 million Toluene Di-Isocyanate (TDI) project at messaieed using enichem technology to produce 100,000 tons a year of TDI. TDI is used for the production of polyurethane foams which have wide-ranging applications in automobile and furniture industries and as insulation in buildings, household appliances and refrigeration.
It is also used in the formulation of adhesives. The deal comes amid a 52-percent plunge in Qatar's Flagship Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO)'s 1998 profits to $300 million from $630 million in 1997. We hope to make a turnaround by late this year or in 2000 when Asian demand recovers and prices start picking up, said QAPCO General Manager Rashid al-Muhannadi.
Depressed oil prices, which recent hit their lowest levels in real terms in 25 years, have hit the economies of Qatar and other Persian Gulf Arab states and impacted related industries such as petrochemicals. A team set up by the state's Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (QGPC) and enichem for the tdi project will submit its study within four months. After that we will take another eight months to do a detailed study and 30 months to build a complex, said Muhannadi, whose company will take a majority stake in the project.
Foams are in great demand throughout the world and I see no problem in marketing the product, said Enichem Honorary Chairman, Marcello Collitti, who also signed the deal. (Reuters)
It will wither away by the time the project starts producing, he told reporters. The deal calls for a pre-feasibility study to set up a $250 million Toluene Di-Isocyanate (TDI) project at messaieed using enichem technology to produce 100,000 tons a year of TDI. TDI is used for the production of polyurethane foams which have wide-ranging applications in automobile and furniture industries and as insulation in buildings, household appliances and refrigeration.
It is also used in the formulation of adhesives. The deal comes amid a 52-percent plunge in Qatar's Flagship Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO)'s 1998 profits to $300 million from $630 million in 1997. We hope to make a turnaround by late this year or in 2000 when Asian demand recovers and prices start picking up, said QAPCO General Manager Rashid al-Muhannadi.
Depressed oil prices, which recent hit their lowest levels in real terms in 25 years, have hit the economies of Qatar and other Persian Gulf Arab states and impacted related industries such as petrochemicals. A team set up by the state's Qatar General Petroleum Corporation (QGPC) and enichem for the tdi project will submit its study within four months. After that we will take another eight months to do a detailed study and 30 months to build a complex, said Muhannadi, whose company will take a majority stake in the project.
Foams are in great demand throughout the world and I see no problem in marketing the product, said Enichem Honorary Chairman, Marcello Collitti, who also signed the deal. (Reuters)