A new joint venture will set up a state-of-the-art glass processing facility in Qatar to cater to the increasing demand for architectural glass in the region.

The new company, SiAl Qatar, will be one of the largest glass processing facilities in the region with an investment of 25 million euros ($39 million).
The companies behind the venture include Special Projects Company, Al Seal Contracting & Trading and Nasser Bin Khalid & Sons Holding Company (NBKS), along with other strategic investors.
The exponential growth in regional glass consumption driven by over $2.4 trillion worth of projects has led to a serious shortfall in the ability of façade contractors to ramp up production capacity or to secure a steady supply to keep up with the aggressive project schedules, said a senior official.
“SiAl Qatar will help invigorate local and international contractors to participate in high-value building envelope projects without having to worry about production constraints and supply chain issues. We will be uniquely positioning ourselves as contractual project-based production partners capable of value additions like engineered unitised panel production,” said Suraj Thampi, managing director SiAl Qatar.
The plant, currently under construction will be able to produce tempered, laminated and insulated glass along with an upward integration into two unitised glazing panel production lines.
SiAl will be able to produce over one million sq m of processed glass a year and by third-quarter 2009 will be able to produce over two million sq m through its processing plants.
SiAl will be commissioning the largest tempering, lamination and robotic insulating plants as well as cutting, grinding and polishing lines with technology from industry-leading manufacturers such as Lisec & Tamglass. The primary focus of the company will be to cater to demand within Qatar.
“We will be catering to local requirements of  processed clear glass primarily used within buildings for partitions, shower doors, shop fronts etc with the shortest turnaround time by maintaining local stock and having the largest, most advanced processing units to support the growing demands,” said Thampi.
Hussein Siddiqi, chief operations officer, Nasser Bin Khalid Holding Company, said: “The glazing industry is a strategic investment for us especially given the focus that we have in developing primary and secondary sector industries catering to the regional economic boom.”