SiAl Qatar plans glass processing plant

A newly formed joint venture between Nasser Bin Khalid and Sons Holding Company (NBKS), Al Seal Contracting and Trading, and Special Projects Company, along with strategic investors is to invest some 25m euros to set up one of the largest glass processing facilities in the region.

The state-of-the-art glass processing facility is intended to cater to the increasing demand for architectural glass in the region. The exponential growth in regional glass consumption driven by over $2.4 trillion worth of real estate projects has led to a serious shortfall in the ability of fa硤e contractors to ramp up production capacity or to secure a steady supply to keep up with the aggressive project schedules.

"SiAl Qatar will help invigorate local and international contractors to participate in the high value building envelope projects, without having to worry about production constraints and supply chain issues," said SiAl Qatar Managing Director Suraj Thampi. "We will be uniquely positioning ourselves as contractual project based production partners capable of value additions like engineered unitized panel production".

The plant, currently under construction will be able to produce tempered, laminated and insulated glass along with an upward integration into two unitized glazing panel production lines. SiAl will be able to produce over one million square meters of processed glass a year and by the third quarter of 2009 will be able to produce over two million square meters through its processing plants. SiAl will be commissioning the largest tempering plants, lamination plants, robotic insulating plants, cutting, grinding and polishing lines with technology from industry leading manufacturers like Lisec & Tamglass, where the immediate and primary focus will be to cater to the demands within Qatar.

"We will be catering to local requirements of processed clear glass primarily used within buildings for partitions, shower doors, shop fronts etc with the shortest turnaround time by maintaining local stock and having the largest, most advanced processing units to support the growing demands", Thampi said . SiAl will be partnering with large and small volume contractors of architectural glazing on a project to project basis, augmenting their production capabilities while enabling them to bid, manage and execute more projects with a focus on contractual project management.