Oman Chlorine Company is adding a caustic soda flaking unit to spur capacity at its Sohar, Northern Oman plant, which has registered sizable sales and exports in the past two years.

The new plant will be in operation between June and September of next year, said financial controller P.B. Khanna.

"With the expansion, the company will be able to operate the plant at higher capacity, reduce production costs, increase the customer base and raise profits as flakes are sold at a much higher price than liquid," said Khanna.

The official said funding would be provided through long-term borrowing from commercial banks.

The Oman Chlorine plant has a monthly capacity to produce 3,666 tonnes of hydrochloric acid, 2,625 tonnes of sodium hydroxide solution and 300 tonnes of sodium hypochlorite. Production now amounts to 90 per cent of capacity.

The company recorded a 49 per cent increase in total sales in 2002 compared with the previous year, which itself had showed an 8.14 per cent growth. Sales climbed 34 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared with the corresponding period in 2002. The company expects to meet its target of selling 65,000 tonnes of various products this year.

Oman Chlorine was designed and built by the Swedish company Cellchem AB, part of the Akzo Nobel Group. The plant employs state-of-the-art membrane cell technology supplied by Oxytech, US.

Exports account for 65 per cent of sales, the major overseas markets being the GCC states. Sales to foreign buyers shot up 85.5 per cent in 2002, and Khanna said the company had been able to step up exports because of the special efforts made by its marketing team to monitor new projects and their chemical requirements.

Buyers of Oman Chlorine products include such high-profile names as Halliburton Oman and Dowell Schlumberger, Adnoc, Borouge and Adwea from the UAE. The company's hydrochloric acid goes mainly to petroleum companies. Among major users of its caustic soda are Takreer, Gasco, Oman Refinery, Deitra, OCI and Kemya.

The company imports salt for the production process through a UAE port. Once the modernisation programme at Sohar port is completed, the company expects to enjoy a reduction in transportation costs for raw material imports and exports of finished products, making it more competitive.

"Our products are import substitutes and save foreign exchange in a big way," said Khanna. He also counted as significant the staff Omanisation figure of 35 per cent.

The company's main shareholders are National Trading Company and Walid Mohammed Azhari.