Sohar International Bank takes part in the official opening ceremony of Sanvira Carbon FZC LLC

Sohar International Bank is committed to driving sustainable growth and supports key national projects that add value to the Sultanate of Oman's economy. Thus, the bank participated in the opening ceremony of Sanvira Carbon FZC LLC (SCL), a large-scale manufacturing project financed by Sohar International Bank and Sohar Islamic.

The factory's inauguration, located at Sohar Port and Freezone, was held under the patronage of H.E. Salim bin Nasser bin Said Al Aufi, Minister of Oil and Gas.

Among those present at the inauguration was Abdul Wahid Al Murshidi, Chief Islamic Banking Officer, Sohar International. As part of the event, several business leaders, government officials, and media representatives were also present.

Ahmed Al Musalmi, the Chief Executive Officer of Sohar International, commented, “Sohar International is committed to supporting mega national projects that contribute to the Sultanate’s economic development and diversification while simultaneously boosting the country’s energy independence, self-reliance, and resilience. Such projects are critical to the development of manufacturing industries and can strengthen the local communities by generating new job opportunities and creating in-country value and new value chains. The support to this project reflects the bank’s alignment with Oman Vision 2040 and reiterates our determination to take concrete steps to achieve integrated development in the country.”

In order to build, own, and run a Calcined Petroleum Coke (CPC) manufacturing facility in Sohar, Sultanate of Oman, with a sufficient aggregate capacity of 440,000 metric tonnes per year, Sanvira Carbon was incorporated in December 2018. It was designed to close the manufacturing value chain gap between the Sohar-based Green Petroleum Coke (GPC) supply at ORPIC's Oil Refinery and Sohar Aluminium's need for CPC.

The project's estimated USD 155.90 million total costs were to be covered by USD 51.45 million in equity and USD 104.45 million in term loans, with a debt-to-equity ratio (DER) of 67:33 (2:1).

Sohar International had divided the term credit facility into conventional and Islamic tranches of USD 83.66 million and USD 20.79 million, respectively, as the project's dependable financial partners.

By September 2022, Sanvira Carbon had already started making money from its Vertical Shaft Kiln facility, which had been operating since January 2022.

Along with high-grade sulphur GPC, the company already provides finished CPC to Sohar Aluminium and BP Europa as part of a three-year supply agreement with OQ Refineries.

Due to its advantageous position and proximity to the port, the company also has the potential to seize the regional markets for aluminium smelters in Africa, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.