Chem-Tech, a chemicals manufacturer in Bahrain, is planning a BD250,000 ($661,350) expansion.

The company, which currently exports 60 per cent of its products to other GCC countries, has also clinched deals in new export markets in the Middle East.

General manager Elias Ellaz said the company is installing new state-of-the-art machinery to increase its product range.

Spic unit nears completion

Southern Petrochemical Industries (Spic) of India is nearing completion of its ammonia and urea project in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, UAE.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with a supplier who will provide 45 million cu ft of gas until the pipeline between Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali begins operating, said Spic chairman AC Muthiah.

Spic has spent about $60 million on the project which is expected to be operational next year.

Jumbo to open 26 showrooms

The Dubai-based Jumbo Electronics plans to open 26 new showrooms in the UAE and other Gulf states by March next year. It is also working towards doubling the dealer network over the next six months.

Gamco to build new hangar

The UAE-based Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (Gamco) plans to construct a single-bay hangar to be followed by another three-bay wide-bodied hangar, managing director Allen Dollie said.

The company is in talks with Boeing and Airbus to maintain and overhaul aircraft, including business jets in Abu Dhabi, he said. The planned wide-bodied hangar will accommodate the Airbus 3XX and other big aircraft and will be among the world's largest.

Iran mulls alumina project

Representatives of Technoexport and Iranian officials are discussing how to complete Iran's first major alumina project which was awarded to the Czech company.

The project, which is said to have run into a hitch over its design, was first awarded to a company in former Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s. Technoexport was later entrusted with it.

Mines and Metals Minister Eshaq Jahangiri said his ministry had issued a deadline to Technoexport to complete the project. He added that it had access to other foreign experts if the company failed to meet the deadline.

Iran has so far spent about $260 million in hard cash on the project. Jahangiri said the plant, once operational, would feed the country's existing two aluminium smelters.

Consortium to fund plant

A consortium of foreign companies is expected to contribute $486 million towards a major petrochemical plant to be built in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $700 million. The rest of the funding will be realised from the sale of shares on the stock market. The plant will produce 396,000 tonnes of urea and 660,000 tonnes of ammonia per year.

Adfert new lines work under way

The Abu Dhabi Fertiliser Industries Company's (Adfert) new project to produce raw materials is expected to be ready around April 2001.

The project is in line with plans to end dependence on the import of raw materials, mainly mono ammonium phosphate, urea phosphate, mono potassium and trace elements.

Adfert, established in 1998 as a joint venture between the UAE-based International Technical Trading Company and SQM of Chile, produces water-soluble fertilisers and granular compound fertilisers. It also produces liquid and suspension fertilisers. The company's production this year is expected to touch 65,000 tonnes against 40,000 tonnes last year.

Adfert's overall production capacity is 200,000 tonnes per year (tpy). To meet demand abroad, it plans to open branches within the next three months in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Greece.

Pharmaceutical unit cleared

The New Medical Centre (NMC) group's proposed pharmaceutical plant has been cleared by the General Industry Corporation (GIC). The Dh70 million ($19 million) plant will be set up in Abu Dhabi's Mussafah industrial area.

Iran-Russia car venture

Iran and Russia have settled preliminary terms of a contract to set up a production and assembly line in Iran for the 15-passenger Russian vehicle Ghazal, Iran's official news agency Irna reported.

The vehicle is simple to assemble and can easily be converted to a truck, minibus or ambulance. Khavar Industrial Group will be the Iranian licensee and production facilities will be in Tabariz, the report said.

New plant in Ajman zone

Al Nazeer Nippon Chemicals (ANNC), a company involved in manufacturing adhesives and related products for household and industrial purposes, has set up a Dh1 million ($277,000) facility in the Ajman Free Zone for the import, storage and supply of its products.

ANNC, with its subsidiary Elfy, has been involved in the production of Superglue adhesive using Japanese technology. A part of Spaceman Corporation, ANNC expects to start a manufacturing division in the region, depending on the success of its present division.

Textile City deal signed

Dubai Department of Ports and Customs has signed a memorandum of understanding with Texmas, the textile merchants group of Dubai, on the general framework of the long-awaited Dubai Textile City (DTC) project, the first of its kind in the Middle East.

The idea of DTC was proposed by Dr Obaid Saqer Busit, chairman of the UAE Customs Council and director-general of DP&C, to encourage manufacturing of textiles and related items and to facilitate and promote the textile trade, one of the oldest trading businesses in the UAE.

A 10-member joint committee comprising representatives of the DP&C and Texmas will be formed soon to oversee the setting up of the DTC.

Licence for 34 units

Thirty-four final licences for industrial projects with an investment potential of more than BD16 million ($43.2 million) have been granted by Bahrain's Oil and Industry Ministry during the first half of this year.

Fifteen of the projects are in the aluminium sector, requiring an investment of BD608,000, while six projects are in the garment industry with a total investment of BD9.4 million.

Four projects are in the petrochemical and plastics sector requiring an investment of BD218,000.

Three licences each have been granted for the engineering sector and the timber and furniture sector. One licence has been granted for a paper and packaging materials project (BD3.5 million investment) and one each has been issued for the construction materials (BD20,000) and cosmetics (BD3,000) sectors.

Nearly 3,000 new jobs could be created if the projects materialise.

Thirty-six preliminary licences have also been issued for projects worth BD10.8 million.