AFPM ’13: Muntajat to handle 80% of Qatar’s chems output by end-April

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (ICIS)–Qatar’s new sales and marketing firm, Muntajat, will be handling 80% of the country’s chemicals and fertilizers output by the end of April, with only polymers outstanding, company officials said on Sunday.

Muntajat currently handles marketing, sales and logistics for about 68%, or more than 6.7m tonnes, of the 10m tonnes of petrochemicals and fertilizers produced by the country annually, Muntajat executives said on the sidelines of the 2013 American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) International Petrochemical meeting (IPC).

It was established by the Qatari government in late December 2012 and has taken over the marketing and sales of methanol, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) urea and ammonia, from the country’s large, gas-based producers.

The company is consolidating the marketing and sales activities of a number of the joint venture companies operating in Qatar’s petrochemical and fertilizer sectors in a model reflecting that established upstream for products such as condensate and sulphur and the state-controlled company Tasweeq.

“There’s been very good support for the initiative across the board. The joint venture partners have been very supportive,” Muntajat executive director for strategy, planning and communications, Robert Chouffot said.

“We are already marketing 68% of chemical and fertilizer production [from Qatar].”

The marketing and sales of some 5.6m tonnes annually of urea production from Qatar’s fertilizer producer QAFCO, 500,000 tonnes of ammonia and 60,000 tonnes of melamine, had already transferred to the new company, Muntajat executive director marketing and sales, Yousef Al-Kuwari said.

Muntajat has yet to start marketing the 800,000 tonne/year potential output of polyethylene producer QAPCO, Chouffot said.

It is discussing with the Qatofin and Q Chem joint ventures the basis on which their linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and high density polyethylene (HDPE), he added.

The caustic soda, ethylene dichloride (EDC) and vinyl chloride produced by Qatar Vinyls Corporation (QVC) will be the next products to move into the Muntajat portfolio.

The IPC takes place from Sunday through Tuesday.