Stamicarbon licenses Urea 2000plusT technology to Qafco (Qatar), NPC (Iran) and CNOOC (China)

Stamicarbon, the licensing subsidiary of DSM, has recently been selected as licensor for a urea plant for Qatar Fertiliser Co. (Qafco) in Qatar. The plant, to be completed in 2003 will be located at Messaieed in Qatar. The design capacity is 3200 ton/day. Earlier this year Stamicarbon's urea technology was also chosen by National Petrochemical Corporation (NPC) of Iran (capacity also 3250 ton/day) and by CNOOC Chemical Co. Ltd. in China (capacity 2700 ton/day).

In all three cases Stamicarbon's Urea 2000plus TM pool condenser process will be employed. The three plants represent all the projects awarded so far in 2001, giving Stamicarbon a 100% score. The recent successes underline Stamicarbon's position as the world market leader in urea technology, having 45% of world capacity on its name. This 45% amounts to some 215 urea plants.

Urea
Urea is the world's most important fertilizer, playing a crucial role in food supply. Worldwide yearly consumption of urea amounts to 100 million tons. On average, consumption increases by 3% per year. The award of the new projects comes after a two year period of cyclical downturn, in which no licenses were sold worldwide.

DSM
DSM is a highly integrated group of companies that is active worldwide in life science products, performance materials, polymers and industrial chemicals. The group has annual sales of EUR 8.1 billion and employs about 22,000 people at more than 200 sites worldwide.

Stamicarbon
Stamicarbon, the licensing subsidiary of DSM, markets technology for urea, polymers and hydrocarbons. The company has over 50 years experience in licensing and is generally recognized as a leader in its field. In urea technology Stamicarbon has realized a number of breakthrough innovations, culminating in the Urea 2000plusT process.