Middle East can-making pioneer Saudi Arabian Packaging Industry WLL (Sapin) will begin producing this year an innovative metal can that will be a world first, a senior official announced.

“We’re currently working on a project in partnership with one of the world’s leading can manufacturers based in Europe to develop and launch  this new type of can,” said Abdulrahman Al Suhaimi, assistant general manager - finance and a member of Sapin’s founding family.

“It will be the first of its kind in the world,” he underlined.

Since being established in 1976 in Dammam, Sapin has evolved to emerge as one of the region’s largest packaging products manufacturers, designing and producing a wide range of consumer and industrial packaging for customers operating in a variety of markets around the world.

The packaging manufacturer is owned by well-known establishments Al Suhaimi Holding & Partners and Dahna
Middle East.

Sapin manufactures food cans, household and hygiene aerosols, paint and industrial cans, plastic pails and components. The company has four plants, three of which are in Dammam and one in Dubai. One of the Dammam plants has facilities for coil cutting, coating and printing, another makes food cans while the third produces paint and aerosol cans and plastic packaging. The UAE plant manufactures food and aerosol cans and has the Leed certification reflecting adherence to environmentally friendly principles.

Top manufacturing firms have commissioned Sapin to supply packaging products for milk powder, nuts, baby food, coffee, juice powder, air fresheners, insecticides, cleaning agents, lubricating oil, paints, thinners, putty and inks, among other things.

“We operate one of the most advanced and well-equipped facilities in the region,” commented Abdulrahman Al Suhaimi.  

Sapin’s  metal can production facilities include one coil cutting line and two lines for coating, five for printing, 10 for assembling and eight for the press. The plastic side includes 10 injection-moulding and three print decoration lines.

“Every day our products reach millions of people in many countries around the world,” said an elated Samir Al Zaben, Sapin’s sales and marketing manager.

Al Zaben: eye on innovation

Some of Sapin customers include Nestle, Fonterra (SNZMP), Kraft Foods, Reckitt Benckiser, Jotun, Heinz, Al Jazeera, Hempel, Sidco, PPG, Akzo Nobel, Berger, Dulux, Sika, Fuchs, Nutridar, CMCI and Best Foods.

Sapin has more than 170 customer companies and exports to over 25 countries around the world. It was the first in the Middle East to manufacture aerosol cans and adopt computer-to-plate printing technology and is recognised for its superior printing quality. It introduced new heavy duty plastic pails in 2011 made from high-impact polypropylene and boasting the highest compression strength in their class. New pail sizes of 20, 17 and 4 liters were introduced recently.

“Can manufacturing is much more complex than one may imagine,” observed a Sapin spokesman. The main materials that go into the making of a tin can are tin plate coil, internal and external lacquers, inks for printing and components such as cones, domes, lids, bottoms and aluminum peel-offs. At Sapin, tin plate is sourced from premium manufacturers in Europe and Japan, inks from local and European parties and lacquers from a few leading firms including Akzo Noble  while plastic raw material is procured from Sabic. Components are mostly manufactured in-house.

Plastic printing with a state-of-the-art Van Dam machine

Market share and expansions

Sapin claims approximately 80 per cent market share for aerosols and 90 per cent for dry food cans and enjoys a strong presence in the general line segment in the GCC market. Some 80 per cent of its packaging products are consumed there and the company prefers to concentrate more on smaller-sized items such as food cans and aerosols for sales outside the GCC area. It plans to increase shipments to existing international customers and is exploring prospects to penetrate new markets. “An interesting area is countries on the African continent including Sudan and Algeria where emerging consumer markets are growing, especially in the paint and aerosol sectors. India also seems to be a lucrative area, especially for packaging fruit pulps and preserves,” the spokesman said.

To meet the need for additional shipments, Sapin plans to expand its aerosol production capacity by 15 per cent and its food cans and plastic products capacity by 15 per cent each.

“Having achieved a solid base in markets we currently operate, we’re now gaining footholds in lucrative emerging markets,” said Al Zaben. “Sapin is keen to develop its plastic packaging potential. Trends in the metal packaging industry are going to be greatly influenced by the rate of conversion from metal to plastic. Plastic has been witnessing significant growth in recent times and we’re concentrating on developing our plastic packaging production capabilities so as not to lose customers who may wish to switch to plastic packaging,” he added.

While plastic packaging enjoys certain advantages over its metal counterpart such as lower weight, easy to recycle, lower cost and lower risk of denting, metal packaging is still favoured by manufacturers because of strength and durability, better printing prospects and ability to withstand high temperatures. Sapin believes that its joint project venture with the leading Europe-based can manufacturer will give it an edge for the packaging of certain products.

High-speed Fuji Primex P-451 printing machines at Sapin

Looking ahead

Sapin is optimistic it will play a bigger role in the industry in which it is involved because, for example, demand is growing for food which would obviously need packaging. “The food cans packaging market has been buoyed by the trend for ready-to-eat, economical food with manufacturers quick to meet increasingly sophisticated demands from the consumer,” explained Al Zaben. “We believe that the food cans sector will continue to grow by 3 to 6 per cent every year and also that there’ll be an increased focus on attracting young customers with cans that are lightweight, colourful and attractive. We’re looking for new technology in order to offer improved functionality and visual appeal.”

Al Zaben points out that many companies looked at the Middle East as a safe and lucrative area to do business in and consequently many multinational firms invested in manufacturing ventures in the past few years which meant they’d need packaging materials. “Beyond the products we manufacture, I want Sapin to be the first name that comes to their mind as a reflection of quality, strength, reliability and professionalism,” he said.

As a new-generation member of the founding family, Al Suhaimi is proud of what Sapin has accomplished since its inception over three decades ago. “Now I’m looking at concentrating our marketing efforts into making Sapin a more visible brand to the average consumer. We’re very well known in B2B circles and are keen that the everyday consumer should know more about us.  I’d want consumers to know how much value we add to their lives so that whenever they see something related to packaging they will think of us,” he said.