October 2002

produce intermediary nickelproducts, nickel/cobalt mixedsulphide (nickel: 10 000 tonsper year; cobalt: 750 tons peryear). The HPAL (high pres-sure acid leaching) methoddeveloped by Sumitomo MetalMining will be applied to themanufacturing process.

The project was plannedby Sumitomo Metal MiningCo Ltd, a leading producer ofelectrolytic nickel, to procureintermediary nickel productsfrom its own overseas miningoperations.

The client is Coral BayNickel Corp of the Philippines,a joint venture betweenSumitomo Metal Mining Co(investing 54%), Mitsui & CoLtd (18%), Nissho Iwai Corp(18%), and Rio Tuba NickelMining Corp of the Philippines(10%). The site is located atthe Rio Tuba mine in theProvince of Palawan, thePhilippines.

Completion of construc-tion is scheduled for the sum-mer of 2004.

PETRO-CHEMICALS

SAMSUNGSECURES POLY-ETHYLENE CON-

TRACTSamsung Engineering ofSouth Korea has signed aUS$70 million engineering,procurement and construc-tion agreement to build a pro-posed 250 000 tonne per yearhigh-density polyethyleneplant for Thailand’s NationalPetrochemical Co (NPC).

The contract is for thelargest petrochemical projectto be given the green light inThailand since the Asian eco-nomic crisis began four yearsago. EPC work on the project,to be located at Map Ta Phut,Rayong province, is due to startin August after NPC’s board ofdirectors gave their approvalfor the facility in June. The

plant is expected to come on-stream by August 2004.

Feedstock for the plantwill come from NPC’s 435 000tonne per year cracker at MapTa Phut.

CHIYODA WINSMETHANOL

CONTRACT INSAUDI ARABIA

International Methanol CoLtd (IMC) has selectedChiyoda Corp and its SaudiArabian affiliate ChiyodaPetrostar Ltd (CPL) as thecontractors for the engineer-ing, procurement, construc-tion and commissioning of aworld-scale methanol plantand associated utilities facili-ty project.

IMC is a joint venturebetween Saudi InternationalPetrochemical Co and Japan–Arabia Methanol Co Ltd. The2900 metric tons per daymethanol plant will be locatedin the Jubail Industrial City ofthe Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.The project will be completedin 30 months.

CHINA GIVESGREEN LIGHT TOBASF CHEMICALS

PLANTBASF has received approvalfrom the Chinese StateCouncil to build a new inte-grated production facility forp o l y t e t r a h y d r o f u r a n(PolyTHF) and tetrahydro-furan (THF) in the ShanghaiChemical Industry Park atCaojing, Shanghai, China.

This is the first whollyowned investment project byBASF in China. With an annu-al capacity of 60 000 metrictons of PolyTHF and 80 000metric tons of THF, the projectwill be the largest PolyTHFproduction facility in theworld.

The new plants, scheduledto come on-stream in 2004,will form a supply network for

BASF in the Asia Pacificregion. It is expected that theplants will supply the rapidlyexpanding spandex fibres mar-ket in China following thecountry’s accession to theWorld Trade Organization.

PolyTHF is an importantcomponent in the manufactureof elastic fibres, which arewidely used for textile applica-tions including sportswear,inner and outer wear.

WATER &WASTEWATER

MIDDLE EAST &NORTH AFRICA

OFFER KEYOPPORTUNITIES

The US$1 billion MiddleEast and North Africa waterand wastewater treatmentmarket is offering increasingopportunities for westerncompanies, according toCecilia Cabodi, a seniordevelopment analyst withFrost and Sullivan.

The Middle East and NorthAfrica region has one of thehighest average populationgrowth rates in the world andthis factor, combined withscarce natural water suppliesand a high urbanization rate,has led to very low per capitawater availability.

Countries such as Algeria,Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia andthe Middle East region areapproaching dangerous watershortages and contamination;as a result many European andUS companies are consideringmoving into this growth area,away from the mature westernEuropean and US markets,according to Cabodi.Collaborations with local com-panies are also becomingincreasingly common.

Western European coun-tries such as France, Spain,Italy, the UK and Germanyseem to dominate the playersalready operating in or explor-ing the area.

Foreign banks, as well asthe World Bank, the EIB andthe EBRD, help finance coun-tries such as Morocco, Algeriaand Tunisia, while Libya’sgovernment ensures that fundsare available, reports Cabodi.

Among the key opportuni-ties in the region, Frost &Sullivan finds:

• plants to provide potablewater to small communities;

• plants for the treatment ofurban wastewater;

• plants for the treatment ofindustrial wastewater; and

• systems for the removal ofcontamination relating tohydrocarbons, particularly inthe oil-producing countries.

Downsides to working inthis region include political andeconomic volatility. Also, dif-ferent countries present verydisparate levels of marketdiversification and fragmenta-tion, so new entrants should beaware of political, economicaland social factors affectinghow these services are financedand regulated, says Cabodi.

WORLD BANKFUNDS PERUVIANWATER UPGRADE

The World Bank hasapproved a US$50 millionloan to finance the construc-tion and improvement ofwater supply and sanitationfacilities in rural regions ofPeru.

The loan will help financePRONASAR, a Peruvian gov-ernment initiative to provideaccess to water and sanitationover the long term for approxi-mately 1.3 million poor peoplein rural areas.

As a result of this financing,new drinking water supply andsanitation facilities for about125 000 people in 450 commu-nities will be constructed.Existing piped water supply forabout 750 000 people in 2500communities will be repairedand expanded. The new supplies

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Pump Industry Analyst