Qatalum, an aluminium plant being established by Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Norways Norsk Hydro in an equal share joint venture, is firmly on track to start production late in 2009. Several key contracts have recently been signed, despite the fact that the required capital investment has escalated over the past year. The plant will be located in the Mesaieed Industrial City, which is around 40 kilometres south of Doha, and construction should get underway this autumn. It is hoped the facility will reach its initial 585,000 tonnes per annum capacity in 2010, while the plant will be designed so that this can eventually be ramped up to 1.2 million tonnes in due course.