Packaging products manufacturer Qatar Polymer Industrial Company (Qatar Pac) expects to install an additional extruder to raise by 50 per cent the production capacity of woven sacks and jumbo bags, the company says.

Standard woven sacks constitute a core product, accounting for more than 80 per cent of the company’s sales.
The company operates four extrusion lines and 150 weaving looms at its plant in the Doha Industrial Area and boasts a total annual production capacity of about 20,000 tonnes in a range of products.
The new extruder will be operational by the end of this year and help meet growing demand, the company says.
“The company has seen its main markets remain on the most part immune from current economic turmoil mostly due to the strong base in the agricultural sector where demand has remained positive,” said general manager Duanne Henson.
Qatar Fertiliser Company is one of Qatar Pac’s major customers and purchased around 6 million woven bags since the beginning of this year.
Other regional customers include Qatar Flour Mills, Qatofin of Qatar and Khaleej Sugar Company of Dubai. The company exports 80 per cent of its production to markets in Europe, North and East Africa and the Americas plus the Gulf and wider Middle East.
New petrochemical facilities coming up in Qatar provide sales opportunities for the company, said Henson.
Sales in 2008 were QR48 million ($13.1 million) compared with QR45 million in the previous year. The company reported first-quarter 2009 sales of QR11.2 million, but with an equipment upgrade currently ongoing the company expects sales will look up after additional capacity is created and fare even better once the new extruder is installed.
The company operates two manufacturing facilities, the main one engaged in extrusion, tape and winding work, weaving, lamination and brown film production.
The other facility - the finishing plant - operates automatic cutting and sewing machines, manual cutting and finishing equipment, printing machines and packaging and baling equipment.

Main product
The main product – standard polypropylene woven sacks – are produced to handle capacities of 25 to 100 kg and come in a variety of fiber grades ranging from 60 to 105 gm per m. The material can be laminated for additional waterproofing and dust retention and provided with liner inserts to meet special needs.
These bags are supplied in completed form or in rolls for the customer to finish as it sees fit.
Another popular product is the polypropylene jumbo bag or flexible intermediate bulk container (FIBC) which can be produced in a variety of thickness, shapes and sizes with capacities typically in the range of 500 to 2,000 kg.
The jumbo bags are produced in standard U panel type, square shape and as circular woven. They can be laminated and provided with liners.
Both the standard woven bags and jumbo bags have attracted market interest because of the advantages of low cost, low weight, high strength, stackability, water proof and contamination-proof abilities, attractiveness and recyclability, the company says.
Qatar Pac also produces woven fabric rolls in coated and uncoated forms, polypropylene box straps, polypropylene fibrillated yarn (sewing thread), polyethylene liner film rolls and polypropylene bulk container liners.
The last-named category is manufactured in either coated or non-coated fabric depending upon the application. The company offers a number of styles of intermodal (cargo) container liners capable of transporting any dry and non-hazardous flowing product weighing up to 26 tonnes.
Founded in 1999, Qatar Pac is owned equally by the Delaimi Group and the Beirut-based Phystone Group. It sources polypropylene in Saudi Arabia and low density polyethylene in Qatar Petrochemical Company and operates to ISO 9001 standards.
Commenting on the challenges faced by an industry of Qatar Pac’s type, Henson said: “The sector remains under pressure to reduce costs for its clients and as a manufacturing company we are continually seeking ways to increase quality and reduce production costs.”