Qatar International Cables Company (QICC) has selected Amana Contracting & Steel Buildings, a leader in the industrial construction sector, for the construction of its factory in Mesaieed Industrial City, Qatar.

This plant will produce power cables of low, medium and high voltage.

QICC, a joint venture company between Nexans, a global leader in the cable industry (29 per cent), Special Projects Company (58 per cent), and Al Neama Industries Company (13 per cent) was established in June 2008.

The first products will emerge from the factory in the second half of 2010. The company will serve demand in the oil and gas, utilities, infrastructure and building sectors.

The factory, which has a total floor space of 19,000 sq m and is located on a 70,000 sq m plot, is expected to generate revenues of $100 million by 2011. The huge plot area makes expansions possible.

The QICC facility will be among the largest in the Mena region and its target markets are Qatar, the wider GCC region and Yemen.

"A big challenge was to identify the plot location, finalise the design, and select the contractor for the project," stated Cyprien Federspiel, general manager of QICC.

Nexans has been active for a long time in the Middle East region, delivering consignments to the oil and gas and infrastructure markets. The group already supplies medium and high voltage cables for important utilities in Qatar, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and has been involved in major oil and gas projects.

Recent supplies went to Qatar projects Shell GTL Pearl, Ras Laffan Port, Qatalum Port, Qatar Gas Berth 6 and Kahramaa expansions.

For Amana, the QICC contract is one of several it has captured this year. Present in Doha for over 12 years, Amana is a leading provider of turnkey and design-build construction solutions to the industrial sector.