As Qatalum, the state of the art aluminium smelter being built as a JV between Qatar Petroleum and Hydro in line with Qatar's long term economic diversification strategy, gears up towards full production later this year, Mr Jan Arve Haugan CEO of Qatalum updated those present at the 4th Middle East Aluminium Conference on the Plant's progress.
Entitled "Building a sustainable downstream industry" the Conference, which took place at the Dubai Marina Address Hotel from march 16th to 17th 2010, provided a comprehensive overview of the MENA aluminium production and processing sector and its place in the global market, with focus on building a sustainable downstream sector for the region's industry.
Mr Haugan said that "2010 is an important year for aluminium production in the Middle East, with 2 of the biggest smelters in the world Qatalum and Emal preparing to ramp up production. Aluminium has had a notably positive economic effect locally, regionally and internationally, as it is used in a wide variety of sectors, such as construction, transport and marine industries. GCC countries are rich in the energy required to produce aluminium, which also lowers the production cost in the region significantly. Over the past ten years, GCC member states have begun implementing long term strategies that aim to develop the region's aluminium industry and the region is now well positioned to be one of the world's main aluminium producers."
He said that the Qatalum development has faced two big waves of challenges since its inception. First, in a difficult and overheated market situation for all industries, we managed to select a strong team of suppliers to execute our contracts and bring in the best available technologies and solutions. Then we were faced with an opposite market trend, when we were exposed to the financial crisis where the various suppliers and contractors had to control the financial health while at the same time fulfilling the project scope. However, despite all of this, here we are today, getting ready for the ramp up to full production later this year.
He added that Qatalum has already met many of its initial targets and first metal was produced on schedule in late 2009. We have every expectation of being ready for full production in the fall of 2010, and we look forward to the day when we can announce that construction of the project is complete, and it is ready to enter the next phase of its existence fine tuning our operations in full production. Our main focus over the next 12 months will be to continue the start up of the Qatalum Plant in parallel with executing the remaining construction. We will also be developing the Qatalum organization in anticipation of the Project team leaving in the second part of the year.
