WORK on Oman Aluminium Rolling Company’s 160,000-tonne-per-year (tpy) project in Sohar is on target and will be ready for commissioning by August 2013, according to the project’s contractor.

“We are now working to complete civil and building works. We will start receiving shipments of equipment in May (this month),” Anthony Tropeano, chief executive officer of Fata Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), was quoted as saying by the Times of Oman newspaper.

“We have around 800 to 900 people on the site which will go up to 1,500-1,600 at the peak of construction in September-October this year,” he added.

Tropeano said partial handover is scheduled for August 2013 and the plant’s initial production would be around 140,000 tpy.

“Then we go to a process of production ramp-up which will take production to its full design capacity of 160,000 tpy after 12 months in 2014,” he said.

The $396-million venture envisages setting up of manufacturing facilities for 160,000 tonnes of aluminium products per annum and will be the largest downstream buyer of Sohar Aluminium.

The plant’s continuous casting technology will enable it to use molten aluminium supplied by Sohar Aluminium for manufacturing rolled coils. This will enable the company to produce aluminium sheets of very thin gauges and high surface quality with shorter product delivery time and lower energy cost.

Tropeano also said that Fata is seriously looking for contracting opportunities in Oman, especially in the oil and gas sector. “We are among the potential EPC bidders for two projects,” he said, adding that one of the projects was for a gas processing plant in central Oman for a leading oil company. Fata, in association with local partner Teejan Construction, plans to submit its bid by the end of this month.

Tropeano also said that Fata has completed the second phase expansion (150,000 tpy) of Imidro, a primary aluminium producer, in Iran.

The company is also implementing two major EPC contracts for Qatar’s Qatalum, which are related to capacity expansion at the smelter.