Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco), an Industries Qatar subsidiary, plans to scale up daily urea production to 18,000 metric tonnes this year as part of its strategy to be a major player in the global fertilizer segment.

This was disclosed by the company after simultaneously loading five ships with urea at its berth in Mesaieed industrial city, which is the first achievement of its kind in the world in urea export.

The ships are headed towards Brazil, Thailand, Bangladesh, Australia and Pakistan.
“Qafco-6 expansion project, which has started commissioning two months ahead of the scheduled date of work completion in the last quarter of the current year 2012, will increase the company’s daily urea production capacity to 18,000 MT, that is a net daily vessel load,” said Qafco vice chairman and CEO Khalifa Abdulla al-Sowaidi.

With this, the annual production would reach 5.6mn metric tonnes, thereby boosting the company’s position as a major player in the global fertilizer market, according to him.

Underscoring the importance of this achievement (of five simultaneous loads) in strengthening the company’s position in global fertilizer market, he said this step was an essential aspect of Qafco’s commitment to achieving customers’ satisfaction and gaining their confidence through huge production and marketing capabilities which the company enjoys, especially after the successful inauguration last year of Qafco-5 expansion project that made Qafco the world’s largest single-site producer of urea and ammonia.

Product quality, geographical location and efficient logistics on site provide Qafco with strategic marketing advantages for a competitive edge in a free global market environment where Qafco has confidently grown into a key player in the international fertilizer market and gained recognition among giant world fertilizer producers and exporters, the company said

Qafco-5 brings Qafco’s total ammonia production to 3.8mn metric tonnes and urea to 4.3mn metric tonnes.

At present, Qafco exports urea, ammonia and melamine to more than 35 countries across continents, with export volume reaching 2.91mn metric tonnes of urea and 0.50mn metric tonnes of ammonia in 2011.

“It will further boost our relation with current customers in the four corners of the world and will further help us discover new markets for the company products,” according to Yousef Jaham al-Kuwari, Qafco’s chief marketing officer.