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Qatar has enough supply of primary building materials to meet the requirements of the local market, with 12 million tonnes of strategic reserves of aggregates, gabbro and limestone, a senior official of the Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) has said.
The state-backed QPMC is responsible to ensure supplies of building materials to the local market. Prices of primary building materials in the local market are reasonable and there is no chance of a fall in the near future, said the official.
The conveyor belt project at Mesaieed Port, opened on Thursday will enable Qatar to increase the supplies of primary building materials from 17 million tonnes to 34 million tonnes a year, said QPMC Chief Executive Officer, Eisa Al Hammadi, in a programme on Qatar TV telecast recently.
The 4.8km conveyor belt was built at a cost of QR1.6 bn and completed in three years.
The newly installed system will end delays in unloading and save the fine of $12,000 per day (charged from importers) for keeping shipments in the sea . The fine is added to the operation cost and passed over to the consumers, he added.
“We import primary building materials from neighboring countries, mainly the UAE (Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah) and Oman. We have partnerships with the private sector in this regard. Qatari businessmen have been given opportunities to establish quarries and make investments,” said Al Hammadi. “We are dealing with about nine Qatari businessmen in importing the primary building materials, supplying to the quarries and selling in the local market,” he added.
Firm focusing on government projects
Prices of primary building materials are fair and fluctuate depending on supply and demand. And the prices are not likely to come down. “We hired a consultancy firm to conduct a study on the issue of price. It was found that the prices are in an acceptable range. It fluctuates at a very marginal rate based on supply and demand. If there is enough supply, how will the prices go up,” he asked.
QPMC is also supplying washed and dune sand to the local market with strategic reserves of 1.5 million tonnes, said Al Hammadi.
The company is focusing on government projects in terms of supplying primary building materials.
“We have signed contracts with the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Qatar Rail and other firms especially those related to 2022 FIFA World Cup to provide the materials,” he said.
Talks between QPMC and the Ministry of Municipality and Environment are in an advanced stage for allotment of land in Rawdat Al Rashid for an ambitious project of the company to convert local construction waste into usable aggregate products.
The recycled materials can be used for construction of roads and buildings and for infrastructure developments. The project, once implemented, will help reduce the dependence on imported gabbro, sand, jibs and several other building materials to a great extent, said Al Hammadi.
© The Peninsula 2016
