Qatalum smelter ramps up above half capacity

By Pratap John/Chief Business Reporter

Jan Arve Haugan: Measures have been taken to prevent such incidents as power outage and shut down occurring in the future, he said

After a major shut down due to power outage in August last year, Qatalum has ramped up its Mesaieed plant, attaining more than half of the smelter’s capacity by mid-January.

According to Qatalum, this is an ‘impressive feat meeting  world-class standards of productivity’.

In a statement, Qatalum CEO Jan Arve Haugan said the company had ramped up some 352 cells, including potline 2, as of January 14. The ramp-up following the outage, began in mid-September.

On August 9, Qatalum’s primary aluminium production was shut down following a power outage that lasted nearly five hours. Qatalum said its employees and suppliers worked round the clock to restore the pots affected by the power failure.

At the same time, the Qatalum casthouse stepped up re-melting of cold metal sourced from external suppliers. Joint venture partner Hydro postponed planned maintenance and increased production at other plants, in order to ensure that bulk of the planned shipments to Qatalum’s customers were met.

"Once the root causes of the incident were identified and addressed, measures were taken to prevent such incidents occurring in future,” he said.

Haugan attributed much of the plant’s performance and achievements to the ‘solid support’ of Qatalum’s owners, Qatar Petroleum and Hydro.

Qatalum was formally inaugurated by HH the Emir on April 12 last year.

In July last year, Qatalum achieved another major milestone when it was awarded ISO 9001: 2008 certification by accredited ISO auditors, Det Norske Veritas (DNV) Business Assurance Middle East.

Highlighting safety aspects, Haugan said ‘exhaustive processes’ have been put in place at Qatalum since the beginning of the project in order to ensure that the highest safety standards are maintained. Compared to the International Aluminium Associations benchmark figures, Qatalum rates ‘exceptionally high’ among industry leaders in safety.

During the shutdown, however, the Qatalum team had to cope with a previously largely inexperienced high-risk situation. The operational staff handled the ‘unexpected challenges exceptionally well’, showing great caution and teamwork, overcoming the challenges with no significant injuries and setting high standards for the future.

A similarly ‘high standard’ was maintained with regard to environmental concerns. Qatalum has a waste management system in place, which includes recycling of paper, cartons, plastics, used oil and many other materials. There is also active management of food and clinical waste, and use of process wastewater for irrigation.

With regard to monitoring, ventilation stacks have been equipped to enable collection of emission samples. Ambient air quality monitoring stations were set up at three locations, wells were drilled and groundwater monitoring established at seven locations throughout the site.

In November last year, a new deputy CEO joined Qatalum. Khalid Mohammed Sultan Ahmed Laram had worked with Qatar Petroleum for more than 25 years and was deputy general manager at Al-Khaleej Gas before joining Qatalum.

Speaking of the year ahead, Haugan said, "I am proud and pleased of the fact that everyone concerned has risen to meet the challenges that have faced us, especially through 2010. I am confident that Qatalum will be a strong catalyst for the development of aluminium related industries in Qatar. We are all looking forward to a positive 2011, and regaining our position as a leader in the Gulf for operational excellence, high-quality aluminium products and environmental performance.”