Bahrain Rubber Company (BRC) won two purchase deals as a direct outcome of its participation as exhibitor at the Gulf Industry Fair (GIF) in Bahrain last February.

The first was an order for EPDM (ethylene propylene diene monomer) gaskets placed by fabrication company New Century Horizon, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

“The company’s general manager was at our stall examining our architectural products and discussing his requirements. We were happy he was pleased with our product quality and expertise,” commented BRC export sales engineer Ramesh Babu.

The gaskets purchased by the Dammam firm have applications in structural glazing and serve as a sealant between aluminium and glass.

“This was the first time it bought anything from us. It is a breakthrough order for BRC as far as that company is concerned and, hopefully, it will be the start of a long relationship,” said Babu.

The second GIF-related order was placed by Bahrain firm Gulf Power Beat. The company requires O rings and BRC is currently manufacturing the rings prior to delivering them. Earlier, pre-order discussions took place at BRC’s stand at the fair.

“We’re happy we took part in GIF as it gave us exposure to businesses related to our field,” said Babu.

Bahrain Rubber Company has evolved over the years to become one of the major  GCC manufacturers of industrial rubber and polyurethane (PU) products as well as architectural profiles and is today a supplier to top players, shipping material from its own production facilities and from companies whose Building Protection System (BPS) products it markets.

Its factory in the Askar Industrial Area has capability to handle processes including compression moulding, injection moulding, extrusion, rubber lining, PU casting, PU spraying and PU tyre foam filling. The production and support facilities include internal mixing mills, ultra-high frequency extrusion lines, moulding machines, an R&D laboratory and a well-equipped design department.

According to Babu, the industrial rubber and PU casting segment accounts for 60 per cent of revenues while architectural profiles and the trading division account for 20 per cent each.

The company commenced production of EPDM architectural profiles some three years ago and is now a prominent supplier to Bahrain contractors as well as to markets in Qatar and Saudi Arabia. “We’re competing on quality, price and delivery schedules and every year our architectural products sales have been rising,” said Babu.

BRC offers solutions to leading manufacturers of curtain walls, facades and window and door systems. Its supplies include gaskets for doors and windows, curtain walling gaskets and seals for patio and wing entrance doors, façade systems, skylights and sliding doors and windows.

At the Gulf Industry Fair, it highlighted the BPS range it has been marketing and which includes corner guards, wheel stoppers, wall guards, speed humps, cable protectors, delineators, convex mirrors and parking locks.

The company also trades in artificial grass, rubber tiles and rubber flooring. “Although we have been trading over the past 10 years, this year we are making a special pitch for the division as we see great prospects for business growth,” said Babu.

The company has purchased new equipment in the last few years relating to continuous vulcanisation extrusion and injection moulding and has no current plans to expand any further unless it sees a significant spurt in demand. In 2011 output at BRC was 60 tonnes with products covering both standard sizes and customised dimensions. One of its major customers is Saudi Aramco for which the company has delivered PU discs and scrubbers. In Bahrain, Alba and Garmco purchased its moulded products, Balexco its architectural profiles and the petrochemical firm GPIC its rubber linings. BRC has an office and a tyre-filling facility in Dammam.