(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula
DOHA: Dr Saad bin Ahmed Al Muhannadi, Chairman of Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) has said that the company's quarry sourcing project in Oman has entered its final phase.
The first phase of the project will produce about 3 million tones of gabbro in the first eight months and then gradually will increase to 7 million tonness a year, he said at the opening session of the primary materials management conference in Muscat last week.
The event was attended by about 350 officials and investors.
The second phase of the project will see the development of state-of-the-art equipment allowing to ship an estimated 7 million tones of gabbro annually to Qatar.
He noted that the volume of gabbro export from Oman to Qatar has increased from 37,500 tons in June 2017 to 633,000 tonnes during the month of March, in addition to increasing the number of Omani quarries which are handled in order to export these materials to Qatar from two to 16 quarries.
Qatar used to import the raw materials for the construction mainly from UAE's Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah before the neighbouring countries imposed an unjust blockade on Qatar.
The blockade forced Qatar to depend on alternative markets for the primary construction materials. Qatar needs an estimated 20 million tones of primary construction materials per year.
The conference, which was attended by officials from the Sultanate and the State of Qatar, was attended by a number of officials and businessmen from the two countries at the Kempinski Hotel.
The conference was an affirmation of the growing trade relations between the two countries. Officials praised QPMC's efforts in helping develop Qatar's infrastructure through production and import of raw materials to the country.
The conference saw an overwhelming participation with a number of leading Qatari and Omani companies working in the production and raw material export sector.
Addressing the event, Dr Ali bin Hamed Al Mulla, Assistant Secretary General for Industrial Projects Sector at the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC), said the construction materials industry in the GCC countries in 2016 ranked fourth in terms of volume of investment.
He pointed out that the studies indicate that there are a number of investment opportunities in Oman in cement, ceramics, iron products, aluminum and other sectors.
The volume of bilateral trade between Qatar and Oman was up by 42 percent in 2017.
MENAFN0204201800630000ID1096683328
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.