Page 16 - Altogether Magazine Issue 4 English

16 How much is the size of the plant production of How much of Abdel-Nour plant’s products current aluminum materials? supply the domestic market? The plant began producing in last January at only 30% of 60% of our production is currently being supplied for its operational capacity, reaching at that time up to 200 the domestic market, while the remainder is exported. tons of aluminum per month, while increasing during We are planning to increase the proportion of exports the current period to 300 tons per month. in 2018 up to 80% with the increase in production, especially since the Qatari market is limited and Production will increase to 400 tons per month during saturated with aluminum products, thus leading to the months of October and November of this year, and competition between the Gulf States by virtue of the I expect to reach the maximum production capacity by price uniformity. All the competing plants here have the the end of this year, amounting to 600 tons per month, same advantages in gas and electricity, but the quality or 7200 tons per year, and this is the maximal capacity of the raw material which is produced by Qatalum is for a piston, in order to fill the growing demand for our what makes our products more distinctive among other products from the local market. countries. Are you planning to increase the production capacity How much is the estimated need of the Qatari market more widely to meet the local and international needs for aluminum products? in the future? The need of the domestic market for aluminum products ranges from 12,000-17,000 tons per year, a Of course, we aspire not only to reach the production small amount that is enough to have three pistons in capacity of 7,200 tons per year, but also to add a new the country to meet it. That is why I say that the local piston by the end of the year 2014 – for which we are market is saturated, and exporting abroad is one of our currently conducting a study that is nearly complete. goals. The same thing also occurs in Saudi Arabia and With additionally operational capacity up to 7200 tons the UAE where 70 % of the production of each of them is per year, this will incrwease overall productivity of the exported abroad. plant to over 14,000 tons per year. Moreover, we are planning to add a third piston in the year of 2019, and our ambition is to reach production of 100,000 tons per Who are your main clients, as sectors, in the local year within 15 years. market? How much is the estimated plant’s share of the market The construction sector is the most prominent client for aluminum products in Qatar? of ours in Doha and within the GCC countries. The industrial sector in these countries is still limited Over last 9 months, we have been able to get a large compared to that in European countries, so the focus share of the domestic market ranging from 20% to 25%, will be more on the construction sector. which is a great achievement for us - especially taking into consideration the distributors of other plants in the Gulf states, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman Does the emergence of Qatalum as a producer of raw who have had a strong presence within the Qatari material have an impact on the future of market for more than 35 years. manufacturing industries related to aluminum? Also, I would like to add that our focus is not only on the local market but also on the international one as well. Of course. The emergence of Qatalum as one of the raw We export part of our products to the Gulf States, and material producers in Qatar is regarded as a real treasure we now have a special marketing section working on for investors. We are the last Gulf state that entered promoting our products to Asian countries including into the aluminum industry, while all the other Gulf Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. We will start exporting countries were in this area nearly 30 years ago. However, our products to these countries within three months. I expect that with the strong economic fundamentals We also are focusing our attention on the Arab countries in Qatar, Qatalum will definitely be at the forefront and African countries. among the countries in the region in 15 years, especially as we believe Qatalum has the best kinds of aluminum in terms of high quality and chemical and physical