On the occasion of its tenth anniversary, Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) has organized a media roundtable hosting editors-in-chief of Qatar’s print media publications and revealing to them the Company’s renewed vision following the recent launch of gabbro and other materials’ sale last August 20th.
The roundtable also targeted the enhancement of the media’s role in QPMC’s outreach to suppliers and customers on the one hand, and the Company’s showcase of its efforts to fulfil Qatar’s national development goals and ambitious vision. With transparency being a key objective behind the building of tight bonds with the media, QPMC is equally working on embracing local contractors and private sector companies, who now constitute an essential pillar in QPMC’s reintroduced vision.
After welcoming senior media representatives and praising the local newspapers’ efforts to highlight achievements of all institutions working towards Qatar’s economic prosperity, Engineer Eisa Al-Hammadi, QPMC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), expressed the Company’s keenness on strengthening the role of the media through a communication mechanism that ensures efficient delivery of the latest news about the Company's projects and milestones and that responds swiftly to media enquiries about the Company's operations and strategies.
Al-Hammadi then discussed QPMC’s new vision, which includes developing close partnerships with the private sector which is considered as Al-Hammadi put it, "a key catalyst in the primary materials’ trade dynamics and real estate investment in the country”. He further stated, “It was necessary to revisit our vision after ten years in operation, and a paradigm shift from a cargo handling company, to a major construction materials’ trader and distributor and ambitiously, a price regulator at the local level.”
Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) has recently signed five agreements with private sector establishments for the procurement of primary construction materials to the Qatari market, mainly gabbro and limestone. As per the agreements, Doha Quarry is committed to provide 3 million tons of gabbro for a one year period while MFH will procure limestone for five years in the amount of 7.5 million tons. For its part, Oryx Trading has agreed to supply 2 million tons of gabbro for a year and finally Village Trading will be supplying in turn 6 million tons of gabbro over five years to QPMC; all Qatari owned companies.
Al-Hammadi commented that these agreements are capable of increasing the local stockpile of primary materials under the supervision of QPMC to 58 million tons, which takes care of the national demand first and foremost and ensures both price competitiveness and constancy for the benefit of QPMC’s new partners: private sector companies.
On the other hand, the Company signed to date, supply agreements with 24 local contractors to source to them 1.1052 million tons of materials, which would increase profitability and investment in the upgrade of Company assets and facilities to the highest levels allowing for the expansion of activities in the coming years, according to Al-Hammadi. In this past September alone, QPMC unloaded through its ports over 1,952,515,907 tons of materials.
In planning the import of the required quantity and specifications of gabbro aggregates, QPMC plays its part in ensuring that the construction sector continues to progress in the right direction by securing the required materials, by facilitating the stability of prices and by ensuring the regular availability of materials for the benefit of local public and private contractors. Along these lines, QPMC’s CEO, Engineer Eisa Al-Hammadi said the company seeks to “stabilize the prices of primary infrastructure materials and establish quality standards for aggregates and limestone in the long-term as part of its pivotal role in the country’s infrastructure development on the instruction of the Qatari government.”
The procured materials will be stored in QPMC-owned facilities in Lusail, Mesaieed and RasLaffan which will ensure accessibility of materials in the north, south and the capital city of Doha and timely delivery to all construction sites around the country as well as customer satisfaction including contractors and customers of primary materials from the private and government sectors.
In parallel, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and QPMC had also recently signed a framework of agreement and according to the agreement, QPMC will supply Ashghal with 91 million tons of gabbro and limestone for the next five years, making it one of the main customers of QPMC and a catalyst for infrastructural development in Qatar. The long term commitment with Ashghal as a key client, has also led QPMC to seek a deal with Hyundai Glovis, to ship a bulk amount of 50 million tons of aggregates to Qatar; over the coming five years.
The decision to launch sales of primary materials on the local front, through a central entity, QPMC in this case, will allow Ashghal and Qatari contracting companies involved in construction projects in general, to take advantage of competitive prices and guaranteed quality noting that the signed agreements include various specifications of primary materials to suit all construction requirements. Additionally, to maintain transparency while keeping cost to a minimum without compromising on quality, QPMC adopts the FIFO (first in first out) mechanism which means the materials entering the storage facility first will be sold first.
To account for the increasing demand on primary materials amidst the thriving construction sector, it is worth mentioning that QPMC is increasing the capacity of the bulk materials with the construction of the Gabbro Berth Terminal in Mesaieed Port, which will have an unloading capacity of 34 million tons a year. In Lusail, QPMC’s jetty will supply 3 million tons of construction material per year to support all construction work in the new city. QPMC has also set up two floating jetties in RasLaffan to supply the needed primary materials; with total port receiving capacity of 9 million tons a year; pointing out that all ports operate around the clock.
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