With the fifth expansion plant slated to come on-stream in early 2010, the Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) will be able to maintain its position as the world’s leading fertiliser producer, says Dubai-based Shuaa Capital.

Qafco is currently the largest fertiliser producer in the world with four plants that boost two units each, says Shuaa Capital, a prominent investment research company, in an analytical report on the company, according to a report.
Qafco’s present production capacity is two million tonnes of ammonia and 2.8 million tonnes of urea per year.
The capacity is set to reach 3.25 million tonnes (ammonia) and 3.87 million tonnes (urea) by 2010.
As a result of expansion, Qafco will be able to maintain its lead as the largest fertiliser producer in the world.
In addition, Qatar Melamine, 60 per cent owned by Qafco, will begin operations in late 2008 with a 60,000 tonnes per year capacity.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s petrochemical company Qafac is planning to shutdown its 830,000 tonnes per year (tpy) methanol unit at Mesaieed in January 2007, in order to facilitate around a 23 per cent capacity expansion, a company source said.
Speaking at the sidelines of the first mega-methanol conference in Dubai, organised by Singapore-based Centre for Manangement Technology, the plant capacity is expected to be increased to around 2,800 tonnes per day, or around 1.02 million tonnes per year, the source said.
Meanwhile, the company was still deciding whether or not to go ahead with its plans to build a second methanol unit at the same site.
Production from the second unit, should the project go through, would commence in 2009.
The source did not specify the capacity of the second unit, but it was expected to be about the same as the No 1 unit.
Qafac is a joint venture among Qatar General Petroleum Corp (50 per cent), Taiwan’s Lee Chang Yung (15 per cent), Chinese Petroleum Corp (20 per cent), and International Octane Ltd (15 per cent).