Takamul plans investment in steel cluster and petrochemicals

Oman Observer reported that Takamul Investment Company, the downstream investment subsidiary of Oman Oil Company has outlined plans for the development of around 10 new projects that will see further value addition to new and existing ventures in the petrochemicals, metals and minerals sectors.

Mr Gilles Desorbay GM of Takamul Investment Company said that “Total investment in the projects in question is envisaged at between USD 500 million and USD 1 billion. They are among some 30 projects that are in various stages of conceptualization and study.”

Mr Desorbay said that “In the pipeline are a number of projects in different stages of readiness. Over the next 12 to 16 months, we are looking at around 5 to 10 projects mainly in metals, each of around USD 100 million. In petrochemicals we have around USD 500 million USD 1 billion in investment. Some of these projects are being pursued in partnership with our majority shareholder Oman Oil Company.”

He said that the most exciting of these ventures involves a plan for an end to end steel cluster in the Duqm Special Economic Zone. We are looking at the possibility of developing a steel cluster extending from a pelletizing plant all the way down to making slabs and products in fact the entire chain.

Oman Oil Company is leading the project with Takamul participating in the feasibility study. Takamul specialists are also on the project team overseeing the planned development of a major PTA and PET petrochemicals project promoted by Oman Oil Company with an estimated investment of USD 800 million.

At the same time, Takamul is leading the proposed development of a Metaxylene and PTA petrochemical project at Sohar. Metaxylene is a feedstock for the manufacture of purified isophthalic acid an intermediate for higher quality unsaturated polyesters and a modifier for polyethylene terephthalate resins. Both the PTA and PET and Metaxylene and PIA petrochemical schemes are designed to add value to products currently manufactured by the refinery and aromatics plants of Oman Oil Refineries and Petrochemical Industries Company at Sohar. ORPIC, as a provider of feedstock, will be a partner in the Metaxylene/PIA project.

Also being explored is a downstream olefins plant that aims to add value to the polypropylene produced by ORPIC’s polypropylene project at Sohar. Yet another proposal in the pipeline aims to further process methanol from the Oman Oil Company owned Salalah Methanol project into value added products. Derivatives from LPG are also being contemplated under a separate initiative.

Downstream investments in the metal cluster will be a priority for Takamul. Among the investment options being looked at in this regard are proposals for automotive aluminium die casting, aluminium container and packaging, coating lines, steel foundry, highway grade steel, ferrochrome and silicon.

With regard to minerals processing, Takamul is focusing on opportunities linked to magnesium and silicon carbide. Also envisaged is a salt cluster that will process high quality salt mined in Duqm. This commodity is proposed to be broken down into its individual components Sodium and Chlorine for use in the petrochemicals industry.

Of late, Takamul has also made inroads into industrial services as part of its efforts to emerge as a fully integrated company that operates across all aspects of the business chain in the areas in which it invests. Towards this end, it is developing utilities that will provide centralized maintenance services, centralized activities, and facilities management services.

Set up in 2008, Takamul already has around 8 projects in various stages of construction and operation, primarily in Sohar. Also under construction is USD 400 million aluminium rolling mill downstream to Sohar Aluminium. The company is also a partner in Gulf Speciality Steels Industry which is building a USD 30 million plant at Sohar designed to manufacture steel wires for armouring cables.