$10bn projects to be launched

QATAR is expected to launch projects worth $10 billion over the next couple of years, a local newspaper reported. At least 18,000 residential and commercial buildings are currently under construction in Qatar, the Peninsula reported, adding that “of the proposed 160 towers scheduled to be launched by 2022, at least 13 towers would be completed next year”.

The report also quoted statistics from the Real Estate Registration Department with the Ministry of Justice, which showed the size and values of real estate transaction “have declined substantially”.

An estimated $35.5 billion projects are expected to be launched by 2015, which represents 48 per cent of the total expenditure in the country’s construction activity during the period, it said.

Kuwait spends $11bn on projects

KUWAIT spent KD3.19 billion ($11 billion) on projects outlined in its 2010-2011 development plan, which was nearly 62 per cent of the total budget earmarked for these projects, according to Dr Adel Al Wugayyan, the secretary general of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development.

Most of the spending was in the power, water, energy and oil sectors. Investments in infrastructural projects amounted to 35 per cent of the total spending in the first year of the plan, namely projects related to housing and public works.
The budget for the second year (2011-2012) of the plan is being now being examined, he told the Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

Qapco to launch LDPE expansion

QATAR Petrochemical Company (Qapco) is expected to launch its third low-density polyethylene plant (LDPE-3) in the first half of this year, according to press reports.

The expansion is expected to enable Qatar become a key global producer of low-density polyethylene with the inauguration of LDPE-3 at Mesaieed in the first half of this year.

LDPE-3, which is being set up by Qapco at Mesaieed, will have a low-density polyethylene capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year (tpy).

Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada, told the local Gulf Times newspaper that the project was “on schedule”.

Another major Qatari project that is on schedule to be inaugurated this year is Qatar Fertiliser Company’s new expansion project called Qafco 6.

On completion of the Qafco 6 project, the fertiliser company’s urea production would touch 5.6 million tonnes a year.
Al Sada was also quoted in the report as saying that Qafco 6’s inauguration would be “towards the end of this year”.