SNC-Lavalin wins smelter contract

SNC-Lavalin has signed a contract with state-owned Qatar Petroleum and Hydro Aluminium to construct a service area and potroom for a new aluminium smelter in Mesaieed, Qatar.

The contract is valued at approximately $700m, a major portion of which will consist of an agreed lump sum at the end of the front-end engineering and development (FEED) phase of the project. The FEED engineering services are already underway and are expected to be completed by November 2007.

Construction on the Services Area and Potroom Building will begin immediately afterwards, with completion scheduled before the end of 2009.

Potrooms are a key part of the aluminium smelting process. Once SNC-Lavalin has completed its work of constructing the new potroom building, rows of large process pots will then be completed under separate tenders and contracts, along with other process areas.