QATARI PORTS: A business delegation from Oman, led by the Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industry Mining and Quarries Committee, has visited Qatar’s ports to assess the country’s ability to expand imports of gabbro for construction ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
A spokesperson for Hamed Nasser, a senior member of the chamber of commerce, said Oman was able to meet Qatar’s need for 10-million tons of gabbro per year, but that the delegation needed “to determine the capacity of Qatar’s ports and the volume of raw materials such as gabbro it can receive”.
“We are scheduled to visit two Qatar ports, which include the new Hamad Port where we aim to verify its capacity and how much more it can accommodate once more infrastructure projects are in full swing,” the spokesperson told Gulf Times on the side-lines of a business meeting at the Qatar Chamber headquarters.
Gabbro is a dark, coarse-grained, intrusive igneous rock chemically equivalent to basalt. It is widely used in the construction industry in the region for its hardiness, strength, and density.
The spokesperson said that once the delegation had assessed Qatar’s import capacity, they would be able to plan increases in capacity on the export side in Oman.
“These things go hand in hand and in coordinating with Gulf requirements. We also can increase the foundation of our loading capacities at the port and packing capacity of the ships once we have seen these facilities,” he said.
Qatar Chamber vice-chairman Mohamed bin Towar al-Kuwari said Qatar’s massive infrastructure projects leading to the 2022 FIFA World Cup and Qatar National Vision 2030 require a huge amount of raw materials.
Acknowledging the space limitations of the Doha Port, al-Kuwari said the chamber, along with the business community and the private sector, are therefore looking forward to the opening of the new Hamad Port.
