A series of alliances formed with global companies in recent months has placed Kuwait Catalyst Company (KCC) in the forefront as a regional supplier of diverse catalysts for the crude oil refining process.

Last August KCC signed a technology transfer and technical assistance agreement with Advanced Refining Technologies (Art) to manufacture ebulated bed resid catalysts used in the h-oil process. Art is a joint venture company of the American firms Chevron Products Company and W R Grace & Co.  With this agreement KCC can manufacture a new family of catalysts and the local annual requirement of h-oil catalyst is approximately 1,200 tonnes.
Subsequently in October, KCC signed yet another agreement with Art by making the latter a party to the current Technology Assistance Agreement (TAA) with Japan Energy. Under this agreement KCC will have access to Art’s research and development and the Kuwaiti company sees this tri-party agreement as a major step towards keeping pace with the rapid developments in the catalyst industry through receiving the latest technology. With the addition of Iraq, Iran and Libya under this tri-party agreement, KCC’s market territory is widened and the company has already commenced its marketing activity in these new countries.
Recently KCC signed yet another agreement with Art for toll manufacturing approximately 2,000 tonnes per year of catalyst for Art sale in the market outside KCC territory.
KCC has also signed an agreement with Grace Davison USA for the supply of alumina to KCC for a period of 16 years at a price 10 per cent lower than the market price. The company has successfully commercialised one type of catalyst with this new alumina and other types catalysts are under trial.  The company is also in the process of concluding a commercial agency agreement with Art for marketing distillate catalysts in the region.
“With this global alliance, our company will emerge from its current level, to adapt itself to the next height as a diverse catalyst provider, and move in parallel with the fast changing technology to become a key player in the regional catalyst market in the coming years,” said a company spokesman.
KCC is also exploring avenues to enhance its product range, widen the market territory, reduce costs and increase plant utilisation.
The company is a Kuwaiti closed shareholding establishment formed in 1996 by a group of prominent local and international investors. Its main objective is to satisfy the regional requirements of catalysts used in the crude oil refining process. Under a technological arrangement with Japan Energy Corporation (JEC), KCC built a state-of-the-art catalyst manufacturing plant to produce hydrotreating catalysts at the Shuaiba Industrial Area in Kuwait. The facility has an annual capacity 5,000 tonnes and is equipped with a digitally controlled process control and manufacturing management system. It is strategically located very close to the refineries of Kuwait National Petroleum Company and is not far from the refineries of the Gulf region. Commercial production commenced in 2001.
KCC has the ISO 9001-2000 certification for the quality management system and the ISO 14001-2004 certification for the environmental management system.
The plant utilises the most recent, commercially proven, internationally approved and used, safe and environment-friendly high-performance ‘HOP’ technology provided by international licensors.
KCC prides itself in making timely deliveries and providing services such as catalyst loading on the reactors and offtake of spent catalysts for treatment and extraction of valuable metals on a long-term basis.