Regional News

In Brief

Switchgear venture planned

JAPAN-based Hitachi and Saudi Arabia’s Walid Ahmad Juffali Company (WJCO) have announced plans to establish a joint venture in the gas-insulated switchgear business.

Hitachi will hold a 51 per cent share in the new venture and WJCO 49 per cent, a statement said.

The two firms will build a new manufacturing plant for gas-insulated switchgear in Jeddah.


Schneider wins Maaden deal

SCHNEIDER Electric has won a deal from Saudi mining company Maaden to supply low voltage switchgear for its phosphate project.

The company will also provide services to manage and maintain an electrical distribution system for the Maaden Umm Wu’al Phosphate project in the northern region.

Christophe Campagne, country president, Schneider Electric (Saudi Arabia), said: “Schneider Electric with its strong local presence in Saudi is well known for its ability to supply innovative equipment, products, services and solutions.”
 

IQ profit slides in Q1

PETROCHEMICALS and metals company Industries Qatar (IQ) posted a 38 per cent drop in first-quarter net profit, trailing analysts’ forecasts.

The Gulf’s second-largest chemical producer by market value, after Sabic, reported profit of QR1.59 billion ($437 million) for the first three months of 2014, compared to QR2.55 billion a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Reuters had on average expected the company to post a quarterly profit of QR1.77 billion.
 

Jindal commissioning plant

INDIA-based Jindal Steel and Power has begun commissioning its two million tonnes per annum integrated steel plant built at a cost of $800 million in Sohar, Oman. The company runs the facility, the third largest unit in Middle East, through a wholly-owned subsidiary Jindal Shadeed Iron and Steel.

The company had acquired Shadeed Iron and Steel’s 1.5 million tonnes per annum (tpa) gas-based hot briquetted iron plant in 2010 and later set up a 1.8 million tpa DRI plant.