HIGHER PETROCHEMICAL product prices presented Qatar Petrochemical Company (Qapco) with improved profit for last year.

Net profit rose by more than 14 per cent last year to 426 million Riyals ($117 million) from 373 million Riyals in 1999.

Qapco is 80 per cent-owned by Qatar Petroleum (QP), with the remainder held equally by France's AtoFina (the chemical division of TotalFinaElf), and EniChem, a unit of Italy's Eni.

Qapco was established in 1974 to utilise associated gas from Qatar's oil production to help achieve the state's diversification aims.

Full commercial operations were started in 1981, and the company quickly established itself in global markets for its product quality and reliability.

From its Messaieed complex, Qapco produces 525,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of ethylene, 360,000 tpy of low density polyethylene (LDPE) and 70,000 tpy of sulphur.

The LDPE products are marketed worldwide to more than 4,000 customers in 75 countries covering the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the Far East, Indian subcontinent, Africa, Oceania, the Americas and Europe.

Approximately 70 per cent of the plant's ethylene output is used for internal consumption to produce LDPE, with the remainder being sold to customers in Indonesia, India and other southern and western Asian nations.

In line with its position as a leading industry in Qatar, Qapco says that it is committed to providing high quality products, developing value-added technologies through research and development, and ensuring that state-of-the-art logistics are in place to get the products to market.

In addition, Qapco takes the development of its employees seriously, and keeps pace with any changes in training methods in the global petrochemical industry. The focus is on needs-based training programmes to enhance the awareness of cost effectiveness and to introduce computer-based training.

In environmental matters, too, Qapco has established a reputation for its stringent and comprehensive Safety, Health and Environment policy, and the company's Environment Management System meets ISO14001 standards.

The global petrochemical industry is now looking at achieving greater cost efficiencies and diversification through plant integration.

Thus Qapco (31.9 per cent) formed in 1997 a joint venture with QP (25.5 per cent), Norway's Norsk Hydro (29.7 per cent) and France's AtoFina (12.9 per cent).

The venture, Qatar Vinyl Company (QVC) came onstream earlier this year, and is producing ethylene dichloride (EDC), chlorine, vinyl intermediates and caustic soda.

The EDC is being used as feedstock in the manufacturing processes of poly vinyl chloride (PVC) for Indian companies Reliance and Finolex.

QVC represents a reinforcement of existing alliances between QP and the two European shareholders, manifested by successful joint ventures such as Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) and Qapco itself.

QVC is due to be fully completed this summer.

QVC's product marketing is handled in cooperation between Qapco, AtoFina and Norsk Hydro. The production capacity of the plants is 290,000 tpy of caustic soda, 175,000 tpy of EDC and 230,000 tpy of vinyl chloride monomer.

QVC is said to be tightly integrated with Qapco, from where it will source 140,000 tpy of ethylene as feedstock.

Qapco also established Qatar Plastic Products Company (QPPC) in 1998 as a joint venture with Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Company (QIMCO) and Italy's Febo. QPPC produces heavy duty bags, plastic sheets and other plastic products for industrial purposes.