INSIGHTJuly 7,2011 - Issue 16

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CONTENTS

GROWTH IN VOLATILE MARKETSThe Second Annual GPCA Fertilizers Convention

ollowing on from the great success of the first GPCA Fertilizer Convention in 2010, the Gulf Petrochemical and Chemicals Association (GPCA) is delighted to announce the 2nd GPCA Fertilizer Convention - 'Growth in Volatile Markets' will take place in Doha, Qatar, from 19-21 September 2011.

Volatility in fertilizer markets is nothing new, but companies have been navigating particul-arly difficult market conditions in the last couple of years since the unprecedented price spike in 2008. This volatility is not good for any player along the supply chain-producer, trader or end user alike. Nevertheless, with food security at the top of every government’s agenda, the food production supply chain must continue not only to survive volatile markets, but also to grow and invest in the future.

The 2011 programme will focus on the current and future climate for fertilizer investment into the future, highlighting key players leading the way, principal regions calling the shots and major future projects affecting the market balance. Confirmed speakers include: Dr. U.S. Awasthi, Managing Director, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), K. Al Sowaidi, Managing Director, Qatar Fertilizer Company (QAFCO), S. Al Kuwairi, CEO, Qatar International Petroleum Marketing Company (Tasweeq), A. Drummond Managing Director,

Minemakers, J. Hidalgo, Global Manufacturing,Agribusiness and Services, International Finance Corporation, M.M. Rakshit, General Manager-Fertilizer Division, Olam Internatio-nal, Senior Executive, SIBUR Fertilizers, S. Markey, Managing Consultant, CRU.

Delegates will also have the opportunity to visit QAFCO 5, the newest plant being com-missioned by the end of the year, adding to the QAFCO production facility, already the world’s largest single-site producer of urea and ammonia. This year’s programme also has a special Technical Interactive Forum designed to appeal to plant operators as also commercialdelegates.

The GPCA FERTILIZER CONVENTION 2011, sponsored by QAFCO, SABIC, MA’ADEN, GPIC, FERTIL and STAMICARBON, will bring together over 300 senior fertilizer executives from the production, consumer, trading and technology sectors to discuss the current and future market requirements, capacity planning and action for achieving increases in efficiency for fertilizer use.

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Responsible care Workshop p.4

Focus on product p.7Year of Chemisty p.6

Welcome to the 16th edition of INSIGHT featuring updates on GPCA's key activities and deliver-ables during the 2nd Quarter of 2011. It also present a brief account on the 2nd GPCA Annual Fertilizer Convention which will be organized in Qatar next September and address the "Growth in Volatile Markets" by an excellent line of speakers from the Gulf region and rest-of-the world. The focus of this edition is centered on the Second Annual GPCA Summit which was successfully organized in Dubai during the first week of April. This 2-days Summit had witnessed remarkable success demonstrated by a 27% increase in total attendees over the inaugural Summit organized in 2010. Alongside the Summit, GPCA had successfully launched its First Plastics Awards Ceremony. More details on the two events as well as other events conducted by GPCA in this quarter are captured in this edition. Additionally, this edition covers the Responsible Care Development Program workshop which focused on three codes addressing key important areas of Distribution, Product Stewardship and Community Awareness & Emergency Response-CAER. Finally, GPCA is celebrating with peer Internatio-nal associations the "2011 International Year of Chemistry". As a contribution from GPCA to this global initiative aimed at highlighting the role of Chemistry in various aspects of our life, we present in this edition a summarized account for the contribution of Muslim scientists in the sphere of the chemistry science. I hope you will find this issues an interesting reading.

Yours faithfully,Abdulwahab Al-SadounGPCA Secretary General

Dear Colleagues,

For further information visit: gpcafertilizers.com

GPCAFertilizer Convention

The 2 nd Annual

Growth In Volatile Markets

Second GPCA Plastics Summit p.2GPCA Plastics Awards p.3Responsible Care workshop p.4Year of Chemistry p.6Focus on Product p.7

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The Second GPCA Plastics Summit Reveals Growth Potential

Industry leaders discuss technology and innovation to support the growth and sustainable development of plastics

he Second GPCA Plastics Summit saw an un-precedented number of business leaders and key stakeholders from the petrochemical and plastic converting industry come together and share thoughts and ideas for continued growth and enhancing its responsibility in modern society. Moayyed I. Al Qurtas, Chairman of the GPCA Plastics Committee & Vice Chairman and CEO, TASNEE , stressed the importance of how the versatility of plastic and its influence on society is an opportunity to innovate for the betterment of humankind. “The only limit is our capacity toinnovate,” said Al Qurtas.

Summit sees 30% increase in attendance

The two-day Summit focused on Growth through Technology and Innovation and saw 24 experts from around the world speak on related topics. The experts discussed the potential for growth of plastics products in the GCC, emerging trends and new opportu-nities in the Gulf, spearheading effective decisions for plastic waste management, and how technology has helped improve methods of extrusion, blow-/injection- moulding as well as masterbatches, compounds and additives. Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, the Secretary General of GPCA, said, “It is heartening to

see continued industry support to an initiative that drives technology and innovation thought leadership. The proactive nature of the industry is a must to ensure sustainable development in asociety that relies heavily on plastics in all walks of life.”Focusing on environment management and its importance, Sasidhar Chidanamarri of Frost and Sullivan, said that the GCC waste generat-ion is 80 million tonnes. Of this, 53% is const-ruction and demolition waste, 33% is municipal solid waste and 14% is industrial waste. Within the GCC, the municipal solid waste of 26M tonnes is broken down as follows: KSA 64%,

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Polythene (HDPE) Shopping bags are actually greener than supposedly low impact choices.A draft report by the Environment Agency in the UK, published by the Independent, has found that ordinary shopping bags made from high density polythene (HDPE) are actually greener than supposedly low impact choices.According to a document entitled Life Cycle Assessment of Supermarket Carrier Bags, HDPE bags are, for each use, almost 200 times less damaging to the environment than cotton hold-alls favored by environmentalists. They also have less than one third of the CO2 emiss-ions than multi-use paper and cotton bags which a number of retailers have started adopt-ing locally. The findings suggest that, in order to balance out the tiny impact of each lightweight plastic bag, consumers would have to use the same cotton bag every working day for a year, or

use paper bags at least thrice rather than stickingthem in the bin or recycling. The plastics indus-try has often been branded as 'socially irrespon-sible’ but its reports such as these that burst such myths and compel governments across the world to rethink their attacks on plastic carrier bags and the use of plastic products. “GPCA members remain firmly committed to the princ-iple that plastics should not be littered -- plastics should be responsibly used, reused, recycled and finally recovered for their energy value. We will promote comprehensive science-based policies and enforcement of existing laws to prevent litter; and enhance opportunities to recover plastic products for recycling and energy recovery. It is our opinion that success in these efforts will require sustained, good faith coope-

ration among a wide range of stakeholders across the world to rethink their attacks on plastic carrier bags.

1000 Paper bags Vs. 1000 Plastic bags

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UAE 19%, Kuwait 5%, Bahrain 4%, Oman 4% and Qatar 4%. Looking at the positive steps, taken across the GCC, Chidanamarri noted that in Oman, Oman Environmental Services Holding Company SAOC (OESHCO) is embarking on a strategic roadmap to establish 16 engineered landfills, 65 waste transfer stations and 4 waste treatment plants between 2011 and 2015. In Qatar, there is expected to be an integrated waste management facility that will treat more than 1550 tons / day, comprising of waste sorting and recycling facilities, landfill, compos-ting plant and a 1000-tons-per-day waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration plant. In Saudi Arabia, a new landfill has been designed to international standards with state-of-the-art recycling facilities on site in Jeddah. In the UAE, Abu Dhabi has proposed new tariffs at AED 225 per ton for businesses, prompting them to reduce waste generation and consider recycling while Dubai is inviting bids for its ambitious 6500 tons per day of WTE to produce 150 MW.Emphasising the need for industry cooperation

as a sustainable solution to plastics recycling, Laurence Jones, Vice President Corporate Support, Borouge, said that it is important to improve the public image of plastics in order to attract the best engineers to come into the industry. “Strong recycling and anti-littering culture as well as collaboration with environme-ntal groups and governments to proactively manage the end of life issues with plastics will go a long way,” said Jones.

Packaging, Bishof + Klein GmbH; Paulo Gomes, Business Manager, Packaging (EMEA), Husky Injection Molding Systems; Tony Daponte, R&D Director, A. Schulman; Laid Demdoum, Technical Manager, Tasnee; Mohamed Sidqi, Middle EastSales Manager, ADEKA PALMAROLE SAS France; Tim Hauck, Senior Manager, Plastics Additives, EMEA, Milliken Chemical Khaled Al-Ghefaili, Executive Director Higher Institute of Plastics Fabrication; Rashed Al Shamsi, Vice President - Polymers Conversion, Abu Dhabi Basic Indust-ries; El - Awady Ossama, Senior Procurement Manager / Middle East and Africa, Unilever; Richard Crosby, General Manager / Innovative Plastics, SABIC; Steven English, Global Business Leader/Polyurethanes, Dow Chemical; Michael Traexler, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Acrylic Polymers, Evonik Röhm GmbH; Sasidhar Chidanamarri, Program Manager/Environment Practice, South Asia & Middle East, Frost & Sullivan; Laurence Jones, VP/Corporate Support, Borouge; and Michael Heyde, CEO, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kreislaufwirtschaft und Rohstoffe (DKR).

Key speakers that discussed technology and innovation during the 2-day Summit included Muayad Al - Faresi, Vice Chairman, GPCA Plastics Committee; Abdullah Ali Al-Sanea, CEO, San Consult; Hanna Saad, Executive Vice President, NAPCO Group; Mostafa Mehrabani, Vice President, Obeikan Plastic Division, Obeikan Investment Group; Ulrich Droegsler, Director Sales and Marketing / Industrial

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First GPCA Plastics Innovation Awards – winners announced The inaugural ‘GPCA Plastics Innovation Awards 2011’ sponsored by TASNEE recognises

advancement in the field of plastics with a positive impact on society

ohamed Al-Mady, Chairman of the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) and SABIC Vice Chairman and CEO, honoured winners of the first GPCA Plastics Innovation Awards 2011. The GPCA instituted the award this year to encourage innovation in the plastics industry and honour companies which have achieved excellence in this field along with talented individuals. The winners this year contributed significantly to the sustainable development and innovation in the field of plastics.The winners were selected by a high-profile jury led by Dr. Moayyed I. Al-Qurtas, Vice Chairman and CEO, Tasnee and includes Mr. Moyyad Al Faresi, Business Director, Polyethylene, EQUATE Petrochemical Co.; Mr. Laurence Jones,Vice President / Corporate Support, Borouge; Dr. Mitchell Killeen, Senior Director, Lyondell-Basell; Ms. Lyn Tattum, Publisher, Chemical Week; Dr. Raed Al-Zubi, CEO, Radius Systems, President of SPE, ME; Dr. Ulrich Reiners, MD, Executive Packaging; and Dr. Abdulwahab

Al Sadoun, Secretary General, GPCA . The winners are:- Green Vision from KSA won the award in the Plastic Products category for their innovative and eco-friendly turf system that has been developed locally to replace real grass in regions affected by droughts. - Zamil Plastics, also from KSA, won the award in the Processing and Conversion category for developing a holistic system to convert non-plastic parts to plastic parts to improve cost position for customers.- Taghleef Industries from Dubai won the

award in the Plastics and Environment category for its BOPLA sustainable packaging film, which is a bio-plastic, obtained from the ferme-ntation of sugars contained in various kinds of plants. - Dr. Mohammed Naser S. Alghamdi and Krishna Prasad Rajan, both from Yanbu Industrial College, KSA, won the award in the Talents in Plastics category along with US$5,000 in prize money for their development of environment friendly completely bio-degradable bio composites materials, based on date-palm fibre.

GPCA o�cials with Awards Winners

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GPCA Successfully Holds Responsible Care Program Development Workshop

Warm Welcome to Recently Joined Members

More than 120 delegates from across the Gulf region were in attendance as the Gulf Petroche-micals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) held its second Responsible Care workshop on May 31-June 01, 2011 in Dubai. The workshop’s primary focus was on three codes developed by the Task Forces addressing key important areas of Distribution, Product Stewardship and Community Awareness & Emergency Response-CAER under the broader initiative of Responsible Care. The workshop also focused on the Performance Metrics, developed by a Task Force, thereby signaling the initiation of transparency program which is at the core of the Responsible Care Initiative. Responsible Care Program Development Workshop was facilitated by Dan Roczniak and David Sandidge of the American Chemistry Council (ACC). The workshop was designed to engage delegates proactively with hands-on exercises at every stage of the agenda. The delegates represented GPCA member companies from across the GCC region. In addition to examples of Product Stewardship, distribution and CAER practices at GPCA member companies, the delegates were able to hear about the best practices from the facilitators from ACC; the role of companyResponsible Care coordinators/leaders in support of the initiative; and Responsible Care codes of practices including those addressing stakeholder dialogue, supply chain management and security under the distri-bution code. The two-day workshop featured lively discussions both inside the meeting hall and in the building corridors during breaks. The workshop was opened by Dr. Abdulwahab Al - Sadoun, Secretary General of GPCA. Dr.Sadoun told the delegates that the growth ofthe chemical industry in the Gulf region required greater cooperation with the larger global industry and that Responsible Care was the vehicle for this cooperation, Responsible Care is needed, he said, to assist the local industry in improving perform-ance both inside facilities and across the industry’s supply chain. The opening of the workshop was followed by a brief speech by Tahir J. Qadir, Director Responsible Care GPCA, who highligh-ted the objectives of the workshop and emphasi-zed the importance of active participation by the delegates. Alan Izzard, Vice Chairman of the Committee, introduced the Responsible Care Committee to the delegates and presented the highlights of the Committee’s meeting preceding the workshop on May 30, 2011. He also informed the delegates

Hanwha Chemical Corporation (International Producer, Korea) Hanwha Corporation, the parent company of Hanwha Group, was founded in 1952. Since then Hanwha Corporation has grown into one of the nation's leading companies, with two major business units: The Explosives Division and the Trade Division. www.hcc.hanwaha.co.kr

Petrochemical Commercial Company (Business Partner, Iran)Petrochemical Commercial Co.(PCC), established in 1990, is one of the largest business corpo-rations in the Middle-East involved in marketing and sales of petrochemical products in the international markets as well as supplying Iran’s petrochemical downstream industries.www.irpcc.com

Megastrike Middle East & Africa (Business Partner, UAE)Megastrike Middle East & Africa FZCO is a global petrochemicals distribution force specialized in the plastics raw materials. www.megastrikedubai.com

Savola Group - Plastics Sector (Business Partnet, KSA) Savola Plastics is a leading processing company of MENA region, converting over 160K of Resin at their three manufacturing units - Savola Plastics System & Al Sharq Plastics in Saudi Arabia and New Marina Plast in Egypt. www.savolaplastics.com

Penthol (Business Partner, Netherlands)Penthol is a global organization in the supply and distribution of oil products and petrochemicals. The company is mainly specialized in the Turkish market, former Soviet Union, the Middle East and has offices and representatives throughout the region.www.penthol.com

that as decided by the Responsible Care Comm-ittee, there will be two additional workshops planned for this year. One will be in continuation of this workshop scheduled tentatively for third week of September, which will address the remaining four codes, followed by a workshopon Transportation & Trucking to be held in November in collaboration with GPCA’s Supply Chain Committee. Earlier in the year 2010, GPCA’s Responsible Care Committee elected to regionalize the ACC's original six Codes of Management Practices which were adopted during the period 1989-92 as well as ACC’s Security Code (2002). GPCA modified the three afore-mentioned codes to meet local needs and build a strong foundation for the local program. This will be followed by the remaining four codes which are already in the draft stage and are expected to be published by August this year. While the presentations in the workshop provided an overview of each of the three codes by the Task Force Leads, the delegates were anxious to engage in deeper discussions on theexpectations especially for those codes requiring

over-the-fence-line actions such as stakeholder engagement, managing supply chain partners and community outreach programs and product stewardship-related interaction with customers. At the end of the workshop sessions, Alan Izzard, Vice Chairman of the Committee outlined GPCA’s plan for the next 2-3 years. He thanked the delegates for their active and energetic participation in the workshop. In his closing remarks, Dr. Abdulwahab Al-Sadoun, Secretary General of GPCA, reminded the delegates of the growing need for a strong and effective Responsible Care program in the region. He noted that the Gulf region chemical production is predicted to grow to approximately 25% of world output in just a few years and that the local industry must be viewed as adhering to the highest standards for environment, health, safety and security as embodied in Responsible Care. Dr. Sadoun’s speech was followed by distributionof shields to the Task Forces and certificates to the delegates. For more information on the GPCA’s Responsible Care Program, contact Tahir Jamal Qadir, Director, Responsible Care, at tahir@gpca.org.ae.

Mr. Hamad Al-Terkait, GPCA Vice Chairman, President & CEO, EQUATEPetrochemical Company, Kuwait, giving away the Plastics and EnvironmentAward to Taghleef Industries, Dubai, UAE

Category III - Plastics and EnvironmentDr. Moayyed Al-Qurtas, Chairman GPCA Plastics Committee, Vice Chairman& CEO, TASNEE, giving away the Talents in Plastics Award to Dr. MohammedNaser S. Alghamdi who won it along with his colleague Mr. Krishna PrasadRajan of Yanbu Industrial College, KSA.

Category IV - Talents in Plastics

Mr. Mohamed Al-Mady, GPCA Chairman, Vice Chairman & CEO, Saudi BasicIndustries Corporation (SABIC), giving away the Plastics Products Award toGreen Vision, KSA

Category I - Plastics ProductsMr. Waleed Al-Hamad, General Manager, Tasnee Marketing, giving away thePlastics Processing and Conversion Award to Zamil Plastics, KSA

Category II - Processing and Conversion

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Excerpts from 2010 indicate…The Gulf petrochemical industry is on �rmer footing to expand its production in 2011 and beyond...

According to the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) Annual Report 2010 that was issued beginning of May, GPCA outlined the continued expansion of the industry’s production base during the year 2010. The report highlighted several new large-scale projects which came on stream during the year. About 6.6 million metric tons of ethylene capacity was added in 2010 by companies in the region, with SABIC’s SAUDI KAYAN, YANSAB and SHARQ adding about 3.3 million tons, Borouge II starting up its 1.5 million ton cracker in Abu Dhabi, and Ras Laffan Olefins Company comm-issioning its 1.3 million ton cracker in Qatar. As ethylene production went up, so did the ethylene derivatives. The five projects have added about 6 million tons of polyolefins to the region’s

output, including polyethylenes (HDPE and LLDPE) and polypropylene. In Kuwait, a state-of-the-art complex to produce aromatics, styreneand olefins facility started up under the name ofGreater EQUATE, which is a joint venture between the Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) and Dow Chemicals. In Sohar, Aromatics Oman (AOL) commissioned its grassroots aromatics plant, designed to produce 818,000 tons per annum of paraxylene and 198,000 tons per annum of benzene, using naphtha supplied by Sohar Refinery. In Saudi Arabia, the Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem) started up its 330,000 tons per annum Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) plant as well as two acetyls plants to produce 345,000 tons of carbon monoxide and 450,000 tons of acetic acid. Al-Waha, a joint venture between Sahara Petrochemicals and LyondellBasell, started up its propane dehydro plant and a 450,000 tons per year polypropylene plant in Jubail Industrial City. The Gulf petrochemical and chemical industry is on firmer footing in 2011 and beyond. The Gulf region has become a significant global producer of commodity petrochemicals and its global market position will grow over the next five years due to the on-going staggering growth wave, which will add significant petrochemical capacity. As a result, the overall share of the Gulf region in the world petrochemical industry is projected to grow markedly from 15 percent at present to 20 percent by 2015. This is a significant growth by international standards and within such a short time frame.

As the international community celebrates the achievements of chemistry and its contribution to the well-being of humankind, it is timely to reflect on where chemistry would be today without the contribution of the great Muslim chemist. Islam's magnificent Golden Age in the 9th-13th centuries brought about major advances in math-ematics, science, and medicine. It is widely known that Chemistry is a science originated by the Arab and Muslim scientists. This is evident by the fact that the word “chemistry” or “Alchemy” had not even been invented in any other civilization before the great era of the Islamic civilization. In fact the word “chemistry” is derived from the word “chemia” which means “amount” in Arabic language. The name itself states an important fact, that Muslims scientists were the first to discover the theory of proportionsin combining substances. During medieval age, Muslim and Arab scienti-sts made numerous contributions to all fields of science, notably they laid the foundation for today’s modern chemistry. In fact, the modern science owes a great deal to Muslims scientists for initiating experimental methods. Jabir Ibn Hayaan (722-815) who is considered the founder of Experimental chemistry, also named “the master of chemists” and “the father of chemistry”, was the first to acquire his information from experi-ments, observation and scientific conclusion. Chemistry was attached to his name because of his numerous discoveries and distinguished works. He was acquainted with all the experiments of metal solutions, and mastered chemical process such as filtration, abstraction, filtration, sublimat-ion, crystallization, distillation, calcination, evap-oration. He was the first to distill vinegar into acetic acid. Also, he was the first to use glass tubes, and bottles on a large scale. Muslim chemists pioneered the synthesis of various crucial substances that are essential to the development of chemical science, including but not limited to the acid base principal and the pH balance. Muslims chemists’ theory of chemical as a science states that substances do not combine except with certain proportions. This is the law of constant portions in the chemical bouding theory. Moreover, they invented the concept of solutions regarding thesolubility of substances. As per industrial chemists, Muslims usedadvanced techniques for extracting minerals andmetals. They perfected glass making and introdu-

many chemical instruments that are still used by modern chemists. Many of laboratory tools and methodologies such as: burners, cones, water baths, bellows, filters, balances, crucibles, distillation, apparatuses, weighs, beakers, flasks, test tubes, phials and bowels to melt metals. In the 9th century, a great Muslim chemist named Al-Razi was the first to produce kerosene from the distillation of petroleum. He also described the first kerosene (naphtha) lamps used for lightening and heating in his book Kitab Al-Asrar (book of Secrets). Destructive distillation was also invented by Muslim chemists in the 8th century to produce tar from petroleum. Al-Razi continued Jabir’s excellence classifying all substance as earthy, vegetable or animal; he catalogued and described his experiments, and established the laboratory in the modern sense. He wrote book of Secrets in chemistry dealing with substances and their application. With such rich heritage, there are reasons to believe that Chemistry will prosper among Muslims once again and our societies will develop in the near future chemical technologies instead of just using it. The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) ponders the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) as a great opportunity to acknowledge the great achievements of Muslim chemist whom contributions are very solid and still alive in present day civilization. GPCA endeavors to promote the Chemical Industry through GPCA’s various platforms not only to showcase how it has brought in well-recognized valuable socio-economic benefits but also to highlight its day-by-day contribution in facing various energy, water, and human health challenges that are heading toward the global population. GPCA is committed to continue to play its role and complement its journey in achieving awareness, raising the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, encouraging interest in chemistry among young generation and fostering culture of innovation and creativity for chemistry.

ced the technology for coloring it with metal oxides. They invented crystal making. They also introduced and perfected steel making. They produced dyes and used them in tiles, woodwor-king, and clothing. They produced a variety of coats, glazes, and other building material such as cement which was used to pave the roadsinstead of stones. Muslim Chemists invented or widely used

In the Year of Chemistry (IYC 2011)The Contribution of Muslim Chemist in Modern Chemistry

Product in Focus: Urea market �rms following strong demand and limited supply

Direct Application Fertilizer 82.9%

Industrial8.9%

Other N Fertilizers3.9%

Biofuels Fertilizers3.9% DEF/Adblue

0.4%

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The markets for ammonia and urea have seen a strong resurgence through the first half of 2011. High energy prices, delays to projects, stronger than anticipated demand and high Chinese export tariffs have driven prices upwards, continuing the recovery from the 2009 downturn. Nexant estimates that ammonia demand in 2010 totalled over 158 million tons world-wide, driven primarily by urea consumption, which in turn is mainly a function of fertilizer demand. In 2010, the consumption of urea globally is estimated at around 152 million tons. India and China are responsible for more than 50% of global urea consumption. Fertilizer demand growth has historically been linked to food consumption through GDP and population growth. This trend is expected to continue, however, in recent years this dynamic has begun to change somewhat, due to the rapid growth in biofuels production - mainly in bioethanol made from corn, and biodiesel made from soya, palm and rapeseed oil. In terms of supply, feedstocks for ammonia production are principally natural gas and coal. The rising demand for urea and ammonia will be met by new investment with new capacity coming on-stream, with China alone contributing a sign-

ificant part of this new capacity in the form of coal-based syngas units. Indeed, with little prospect of oil prices falling back to their long term h istoric range of $15-$25 per barrel, and increasing restrictions on the provision of natural gas for commodity chemicals projects in the Arab Gulf, producers have been looking

further afield and with renewed interest in non-gas based projects, as seen by the recent announcement of a large urea plant in Western Australia using coal as feedstock, as well as sign-ificant coal based capacity based in China, which shows little sign of decelerating.

The primary end-use of urea is as a direct application fertilizer where urea is applied directly to farmland. Urea is also a component in other fertilizers, where it may be combined with other nutrients to form complex fertilizers. Urea usage to promote production of biofuels crops has been a growing segment, particularly as primary biofuels crops such as corn and wheat are nitrogen-intensive crops. As biofuels production tends towards secondary and tertiary routes, the urea demand growth for this sector will slow. Industrial consumption of urea is significant source of demand, with much of this coming from resins, adhesives and coatings. A relatively new non-fertilizer end-use has emerged in the emission-control area, where urea solutions are used in a selective catalytic reduction process to remove NOx gases from vehicle exhausts. The recent trend in the GCC has been for producers to focus investment away from the basic commodity fertilizer products, such as ammonia and urea, and look to diversify into downstream derivatives. Despite this, Fertil (UAE) and QAFCO (Qatar) are undertaking large ammonia-urea expansions and SABIC (KSA) is mulling over a urea expansion.

servicesFocus on*

* This section is a new section in INSIGHT. GPCA encourages all services providers to participate in this section and submit their latest development/technologies/services that can be offered to the industry. For more information please contact Ms. Dima Al-Horani - Communications & Marketing Officer

e-mail: dima@gpca.org.ae

Evolution of Plant Asset Management

web-based data base

Andrew PrincePM, Energy & Chemicals Consulting - Nexant Ltd.

A new approach to maintenance work�ow of equipment install base to improve plant availability

he classic enterprise structure shows two clearly separated worlds: the world of business processes reflected in an ERP system and the world of production with its distributed control system (DCS). In recent decades, the development of ind-ustrial plants has mainly focused on two aspects: processes and their control during operation. Optimum instrumentation and sophisticated control mechanisms have continually increased process safety, pro-ductivity and economic efficiency. Avoiding plant downtime, keeping main-tenance and repair periods as short as

possible - these are the requirements which one has to face. “Computerized Maintenance Management Systems” (CMMS)” are used to manage maintenance operations. Integration of 3rd party devices is an issue, for example there might be more than 10 different suppliers of field instruments. A key requirement especially during plant erection and approval process is the fast availability of legal documents e.g. material or calibration certificates and approvals. Plant Asset Management (PAM) systems reduce the need for extra staff at the user site and can save 30-40% of maintenance hours. Providing timely information to help maintenance and operations improve asset availa-bility and reduce time to maintain and optimize efficiency of assets. Online, centralized hosted data reduces cost. However, most PAM systems are initially “software only” the data base has to be generated manually, which requires many costly hours of resource by EPC or end user plant team.

New solution - automatically generated web-based data base

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Every device as soon as it is produced and delivered carries a unique serial number like a fingerprint – all relevant documents are automatically stored in a customer-specific database. In case of large projects delivered through different EPCs a global project number reference controls this process even if delivered through different countries or package unit suppliers. From engineering, procurement, commissioning through operation, maintenance and the replacement of individual components, the so called “W@M-portal” of Endress+Hauser (web enabled asset management) provides up-to-date and complete information. The functionality is not limited either to Endress+Hauser devices or even to measuring instruments. Any kind of equipment can be registered. Spare part lists are made available automatically. Exploded views help to easily identify the right parts. The logbook records all events of a device, which have been carried out.The usage is password protected and requires just a web browser as the data base can be accessed through a web-portal. An “offline” version of the data base can be installed on a local server if there are security concerns or the access to the internet is not fast and reliable enough. Data synchronization can be scheduled e.g. once a week to keep the local data base up-dated. The information content of the “W@M-portal” can be integrated into existing systems such as SAP PM, Maximo from IBM, Datastream7i from Infor.. Users do not have to learn how to use a new system: they keep working in their familiar environment but get access to much more information about their assets. Having access to up to date information 365 days a year about the plant install base, is responsible care.

Global Urea Demand Breakdown 2010

More information could be sourced from: www.endress.com/life-cycle-management.

applying automatically generated

18-20 October 2011, InterContinental Hotel, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Sponsored by:

For more information and to register visit www.gpcasupplychain.com

Strengthening the GCC Supply Chain against challenges and threats

Topics to be discussed include:» Combating piracy» The GCC port infrastructure: Converting today’s

frustrations into tomorrow’s opportunities» Spotlight on rail: Assessing where and how the

region’s high profile rail developments will impact the petrochemical supply chain

» Overcoming staffing challenges to develop a sustainable, highly motivated supply chain workforce

» Measuring and mitigating the effect of piracy on trade flows in the petrochemicals industry

And more

REGISTER

NOW

Co-organized by:

Book on or before 10th September 2011 to get the early booking discountTo receive your early booking discount quote promo code PACSC1 when registering your place.

PLUS: Special discountsavailable for GPCA members

A CALENDAR EVENT OF