Al-Sowaidi addressing the 5th Annual GPCA fertiliser convention in Dubai recently.
Adopting a sustainable approach to fertiliser production is a fundamental pillar of the industry’s commitment to sustainable agriculture and product stewardship, Qafco vice-chairman and CEO, Khalifa al-Sowaidi has said.
He was addressing the 5th Annual GPCA fertiliser convention that concluded in Dubai recently.
Al-Sowaidi said efficient production of fertilisers through operational improvements was key to improving fertiliser performance and efficiency, and in turn supporting nutrient efficiency.
“At Qafco, through the adoption of state-of-the-art and energy-efficient technologies, we were able to achieve 13% reduction in specific energy consumption for urea production, which consequently resulted in reduced carbon emission intensity of our products,” he said.
Al-Sowaidi said, “The world population, which is projected to increase by almost 1bn people within the next 12 years presents a huge challenge before us. Emphasising on increasing yield per hectare, he said,” With the talks of agricultural intensification gaining ground, the road map for our industry’s future is more or less defined. Augmenting production, product value addition, diversification and focus on research and development will be the drivers of growth in the coming years.”
On the role of regional fertiliser manufacturers, al-Sowaidi said, “Parts of Africa, South East Asia and America will be the centres of population growth. Hence, fertiliser industries in the Middle east stand to play significant role in the years to come by virtue of their geographical location as well as easier access to raw materials.”
On Qafco’s collaboration with universities of Qatar, he said, “Qafco has taken the lead to collaborate in research activities with local universities and provide facilities that will benefit many industries in Qatar, such as deployment of DeNOx technology. The company has signed an MoU with Qatar University to build and commission a heat exchanger pilot plant and appoint a Qafco chair in Energy Systems at the College of Engineering. Through this initiative, we aim to strengthen collaboration between industry and the academia to enhance the process of connecting research with education for achieving the objectives and priorities for Qatar.”
Qafco had sponsored some 25 students from Qatar to be part of the international convention.
He further said that through the convention organised by GPCA, global players could discuss and debate the challenges and opportunities in this changing global and regional market conditions.
