Oman’s Takamul Investment Company is studying a wide range of downstream chemicals, metals and minerals projects that could see several industries being established for the first time in the sultanate.

Takamul is a shareholder in 10 projects in operation or under construction, including the fully owned Oman Aluminium Rolling Company (OARC), which is aiming to complete its $388m rolling mill in Sohar by August 2013.

Speaking at the MEED Oman Investment Forum, Gilles Desorbay, general manager at Takamul, said it was looking into several new metals projects, including aluminium containers and packaging, automotive aluminium dye-casting, steel foundry, highway guard steel, silicon and ferrochrome. The company is also studying the development of a steel cluster at Duqm port in east central Oman, making slabs and long products.

Takamul next major project being planned is an estimated $800m petrochemicals project in Sohar to produce purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Takamul’s majority stakeholder, state-owned Oman Oil Company (OOC), is setting up a new company to develop the project, with Takamul likely to be a shareholder.

“[We are looking] to start a front-end engineering design (feed) study shortly,” Desorbay said. “If the feed goes forward, it will start later this year or early next year.”

The plant will produce 1 million tonnes a year (t/y) of PTA and PET plastics using aromatics feedstock from the refinery in Sohar.

Takamul has several other petrochemicals projects in the study stage, including metaxylene/purified isophthalic acid (PIA), refinery catalysts, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) derivatives, downstream olefins and downstream methanol. The latter projects would be developed respectively as downstream units of existing olefins plants in Sohar and methanol operations in the southern port of Salalah.

Desorbay said Takamul was also studying the potential to develop minerals projects including salt, magnesium and silicon carbide, which is used in refractories for the production of steel.

Takamul, which was established in 2008, is 90 per cent owned by OOC, with 10 per cent stakes held by Abu Dhabi-based Al Maha and Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea).

In addition to OARC, Takamul is also a shareholder in Sohar-based Oman Aluminium Processing Industries (OAPIL) and Muscat Gases.