Kuwait Catalyst Company's plant for the production of Helamin water-treatment chemicals will become operational by August.

A company spokesman said the facility was being built but that the products were undergoing field trial tests by power stations and boilers in Kuwait and the UAE.

"The product has been approved by the GCC states, Egypt, Syria and Iran. Our market is the GCC region and the Middle East," he said. Raw materials are being procured from the company's technical partner, Filtro, of Switzerland. KCC, which began production of catalysts for refining petroleum products earlier this year, said the Helamin products were expected to provide optimal performance in the feed, boiler, steam and condensate sections of plants.

The plant design includes a five cu m reactor with an annual capacity of 5,000 tonnes based on one shift and a storage capacity of 500 tonnes of finished product.

The company expects sales during the first year of operation to reach 400 tonnes, rising to more than 2,000 tonnes during the third year. KCC also said a planned plant for processing and disposing of spent catalysts was now in the preliminary design stage.

The facility, said to be the first of its kind in the region, is expected to be built in 2003. The Japanese firm of Kohsei has been named as technical partner for the project. The plant will have an initial capacity of 18,000 tonnes per year (tpy), sufficient to meet the requirements of Kuwait and the region. KCC said the plant would be built in the Shuwaibiyah industrial area close to its existing production facilities but would not say how much investment would go into the project.

KCC said earlier it would be "one of the most environmentally motivated projects in the Middle East" and that the treatment of spent catalysts and recovery of metals would be accomplished through a safe, economical and environmentally friendly process.

Meanwhile, KCC said its catalyst plant was proceeding well into its planned role of becoming a major exporter in the Middle East where it expects demand for lighter petroleum products to grow and refineries to continue expanding.

The company plans to market its output in 26 refineries, most of which are in the Middle East and North Africa region. The catalyst plant, constructed by Hyundai, now consists of two production trains. A third train will be added in course of time. The plant's designed capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year (tpy) surpasses Kuwait's national requirement of 4,300tpy. The country uses 4,000tpy of catalysts for desulphurising naphtha, kerosene, gas oil and residual oil and removing other impurities while 300 tonnes are used in hydrocracking processes for converting gas oil to light distillates. Kuwait's Ministry of Finance has described KCC as "a vital manufacturing facility" for its potential as a contributor to the national economy and a provider of jobs to nationals and for being a channel for the transfer of technology to Kuwait.