Qatar Vinyl Company (QVC) will see expanded production of ethylene dichloride (EDC) if Qatar Petroleum Company (Qapco) raises ethylene output.

The QVC production facilities are integrated with those of Qapco, which holds a major 31.9 per cent of its shareholding and which announced recently it is looking at raising ethylene production capacity to 720,000 tonnes per year (tpy) from the current level of 525,000 tpy. The move should help QVC as it absorbs its ethylene requirements from Qapco.

Production at the $680 million QVC plant, which was inaugurated in late June of 2001, comprises 175,000tpy of EDC, 290,000 tpy of caustic soda and 230,000 tpy of vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). Shareholders besides Qapco are QP (25.5 per cent), Norsk Hydro (29.7 per cent) and Atofina (12.9 per cent). The total share capital of the company is $184.3 million.

A $250 million PVC production unit will join the QVC facilities to support the value-added economic advantages.

The company has signed an agreement with Jordan Safi Salt Company for the import of 250,000 tpy of industrial salt, which will have a role in the production of caustic soda, EDC and VCM.

QVC is the first project that has shared maximum integration with an already existing project (Qapco), both plants sharing one port, one cooling system using seawater and raw materials including nitrogen, water vapour and water. Also shared are the health, security and other services, which lead to reductions in capital costs and other expenses. Qapco will market 10 per cent of QVC products with Norsk Hydro and Atofina also sharing in the marketing responsibilities.

The main target markets for QVC are South-east Asia, Korea, China, India and Australia.

The engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract worth $430 million was awarded to Krupp Uhde and Technip Italia Spa. Contrack International carried out part of the construction for Krupp.

Another major subcontractor was Consolidated Contractors International. Power for the whole process was supplied by a 110MW unit, which is already part of the Qapco plant.

QVC was underpinned by a $475 million loan from a number of banks, the lead bank having been French Paribas, which has long experience of Qatari business. The project was completed within 16 million continuous working hours without any injuries, said the company.

The salt imported from Jordan will feed the chlorine unit. It will be broken down into chlorine, caustic soda and hydrogen. The hydrogen is used as a fuel gas. The chlorine is fed into the EDC unit along with the ethylene from the Qapco plant.

The EDC unit will have some 193,000 tpy used by the VCM unit, the rest being sold. The EDC will be fed in with 52,000 tpy of ethylene from the Qapco facility as well as 5,000tpy of caustic soda to produce 230,000 tpy of VCM, which will be available for sale. The remaining caustic soda will be sold.

The volume split in revenue terms of the QVC plant is expected to be 50 per cent VCM, 23 per cent EDC and 27 per cent caustic soda.

The Qatari government has issued a permit to erect a new solar salt facility in the country. QVC will likely be a customer.

"The QVC project is considered an edifice and an addition to the state's developing economy ... and aims at optimum use of the country's natural resources through feasible projects which reinforce the national economy," said QVC chairman and Minister for Energy and Industry Abdulla Al Attiyah.