AL-GHURAIR EXPANSION DELAYED: UAE-based Al-Ghurair Iron & Steel (Agis) has said contracts for the second-phase expansion of its metals plant at Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, will not be awarded until the fourth quarter of 2011 due to uncertainties in the steel market, Meed has reported, citing a senior manager at the company. The cost of the expansion has gone down from $100m that was originally planned to $40m, the executive said. The second phase expansion will increase the plant's capacity to almost 500,000 tonnes a year (t/y) from the current capacity of 350,000 t/y, he told the magazine.
NEW SMELTER TO OPEN IN QATAR IN APRIL: The new aluminium smelter of Qatar Aluminium (Qatalum), a 50-50 joint venture between Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Norwegian company Norsk Hydro, will be officially inaugurated in Mesaieed Industrial City on April 12, the Peninsula has reported. The smelter is expected to produce 585,000 tonnes of premium-quality aluminium per annum, the company said in a statement.
QPIC POSTS KD7M 2009 PROFIT: Kuwait-based Qurain Petrochemical Industries Co (QPIC) has announced the inauguration of its new Aromatics and Olefins II Plant and revealed expansion plans both locally and globally, Al-Watan Daily has reported. The firm has posted KD7.098m ($24.85m) in net profit for the year ended December 31, 2009. QPIC's total assets during the same period grew by 35 percent to KD191.35m ($669.72m). The increase was attributed to the completion of three new petrochemical plants in Kuwait.
EGYPT TO HOST SOLAR ENERGY MATERIALS PLANT: Egypt has said it will be the home to a factory producing raw materials and gas used to generate solar energy, with $460m of investments in total, Reuters has reported. The new plant is expected to produce 3,000 tonnes of polysilicon annually, a key material in most solar cells, and 1,500 tonnes of a gas also used in the manufacture of cells. Egypt has been developing wind power along its eastern Red Sea coast, where it has wind farms at Zafarana and Hurghada, and has so far installed capacity of 430 MW of wind energy.
EMAL SEEKS $700M LOAN BACKING FROM EXPORT CREDITORS: Banks have been asked by UAE-based Emirates Aluminium (Emal) to respond to invitations to finance a $700m loan backed by export credit agencies (ECAs) by the end of March, Meed has reported. The loan will be used to complete construction of the company's first phase smelter, as well as raise additional funding for the $2bn bond issue that never took place due to the financial crisis.
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