Doha, Qatar: Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Co. (QIMC) announces the start of the initial operations of its (Gizaz) Glass Containers plant, located in the Small and Medium Industries Area, by the middle of next November, 2023. QIMC contributes with 50 percent of the capital of the project in partnership with Qatari and non-Qatari investors.
The plant aims to produce glass containers used in the food and beverage industry, including: mineral water, soft drinks, juices, dairy products, packaging of food products (pickles, oils, sauces, jams, honey, etc.).
The project will contribute to the development and support of the food industry in the country, which is one of the most important sectors of the national economy in the future.
QIMC officials during the announcement of Glass Containers project.
The project will cover local market’s need for glass containers, which are currently being imported from foreign sources at high costs.
Also, a portion of the project’s products will be exported to international and neighboring markets, especially the markets of Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq.
These counties suffer from shortage of glass containers, as there are only a limited number of glass container factories, while the needs are high, considering the size and importance of the food industries in them.
The project will have a great opportunity to compete in these as well as in other international markets.
The design capacity of the Plant in the first phase is 200 tons / day, approximately one million glass containers per day, through one furnace at a total cost of about QR320m.
Future expansion has been considered by adding a second furnace, which will raise the production capacity to about 450 tons per day and increase the total investments to about QR400m.
The project technology is based on melting the raw materials including sand and other chemicals and additives in a special furnace at a temperature of about 1600 degrees Celsius.
The raw materials mix will be converted into molten glass, using natural gas as the main source of energy.
Molten glass is then formed in special molds to take the required shape, it is then cooled in stages, and the final products are packed after ensuring their quality and compliance with client’s specifications.
The plant will use imported high quality silica sand in addition to the local sand available from the Qatar Sand Treatment Plant of QIMC. Other natural raw materials and chemicals will be added in varying quantities to improve the quality and properties of the glass and reduce the melting point of sand.
It should also be noted that the project team is working on the development of a project for using crushed recycled glass (Cullet) to be added to the main project.
It is worth mentioning that the Plant was designed, and its equipment and production lines were supplied and installed by a specialized Italian company (Falornitech), while the buildings and other facilities were constructed by a local contracting company (Shannon Engineering Co.).
The project will contribute to the implementation of the expansion plans of the Qatar Industrial Manufacturing Co. enabling it to develop its existing projects and implement new projects that depend on the competitive advantages of the country in line with Qatar vision 2030.
Since its inception in 1990, QIMC has contributed to more than twenty industrial projects in various industrial sectors in the State of Qatar, as it exploits natural resources and intermediate inputs available locally and regionally and adopts the investment policy of the company.
The company considers its investment activity from the perspective of economic development in its broadest sense, so it seeks to maximize the direct and indirect positive effects of investment on the national economy between the industrial sector and other economic sectors.
This is represented in company’s various projects such as the chemical and petrochemical industries, building materials, foodstuffs, and others.
In pursuit of its investment policies, the company welcomes investors and technology owners to participate in joint ventures in small and medium-scale projects.
