QAFCO was founded in 1969 as a joint venture between the Government of Qatar and a number of foreign shareholders. The country's first large-scale venture in the petrochemical sector, QAFCO was established with a view to diversify the economy and utilize the nation's enormous gas reserve. After successfully implementing several expansion projects over the past three decades, the Company has evolved into a world-class fertiliser producer. QAFCO is now owned 75% by Industries Qatar (IQ) and 25% by Yara Netherland.

With a sizable annual production capacity of two million metric tonnes (MT) of ammonia and three million MT of urea from four Ammonia and four Urea plants, QAFCO is now the world's largest single-site producer of urea. The QAFCO-5 expansion project, which will be completed in late 2011, will raise QAFCO's annual production capacity to 3.8 million MT of ammonia and 4.3 million MT of urea and will make QAFCO the world's largest single-site producer of both ammonia and urea. The QAFCO-6 project which is expected to be taken over by QAFCO in 2012 will increase the Company's annual production capacity of urea to 5.6 million MT. Consequently the project will strengthen the Company's position as a key player in the global fertiliser market.

To cater to the world markets, which are showing increasing developed fertiliser consumption patterns, the Company currently seeks to maximise its production of granular urea as opposed to urea prills. Granular fertilisers are considered better suited to the more technology-dependent cultivation methods adopted in developed countries. In addition, QAFCO is planning to produce Sulphur-Coated Urea (SCU), a product that will increase the nutrient recovery and improve crops yield and also reduce the negative environmental impacts of urea.

Currently, QAFCO exports ammonia and urea to more than 35 nations across the globe, with its primary markets being the countries of South East Asia, North America, Australasia and Southern Africa.

QAFCO pursues a policy of retaining existing customers while forging ties with new ones. This has enabled the company to maintain a large network of distributors, with utmost care being taken to ensure that all are satisfied with the quality of QAFCO's products, services and level of commitment.