Al Tuwairqi Group has emerged over the past 25 years as an important player in Saudi industry through its involvement in contracting, trading and manufacturing and its success in developing markets well beyond the Kingdom's borders.

Products it manufactures include space frames roofing systems, hot rolled steel items, steel billets and electrical equipment. The organisation is also well known as a distributor of building materials including white cement and as a trader in industrial materials.

"Al Tuwairqi Group is committed to performing its activities in a social, ethical and environmentally responsible manner and achieving the highest professional standards," said chairman Hilal Hussein Al Tuwairqi.

Flagship of the group Al Ittefaq Steel Products Factory (ISPF) is one of a very few hot rolled steel mills in the GCC region and boasts an annual production capacity of 300,000 tonnes.

Other manufacturing concerns are National Steel & Iron Factory, Space Frames Manufacturing Factory and International Electrical Products. The group also has divisions for contracting, scientific and medical products, building materials, industrial supplies, information technology and trading.

The group's new ventures are Al Ittefaq Fibreglass Factory, the Independent Testing Laboratory to provide testing services for chemical, mechanical and metallurgical properties; and the HVAC division, which is engaged in providing heating, ventilation and air conditioning while also supplying range of HVAC equipment.

Located in Dammam's second industrial city, ISPF produces MS angles, flat and square round bars, plain round bars, reinforcing bars and channels, all of which are manufactured in full conformity with Saudi, American, European and Japanese standards.

When the factory commenced production in 1989, it was considered a pioneer in the Gulf region with regard to hot profiles rolling steel.

It is now well positioned in the market place and constantly exploring the potential for business while at the same time improving quality standards. ISBF, which has been granted the ISO 9002 accreditation, has also introduced new products from time to time to meet the requirements of engineering industries.

One of its accomplishments was the introduction of the bar quenching process, thermex type, for manufacturing superior quality reinforcing bars that have improved yield strength and weldability.

"Al Tuwairqi Group is very keen to play a vital role in the development of the national infrastructure for a sound industrial base in Saudi Arabia," says chairman Al Tuwairqi.

Another company established in line with that vision and in consideration of the fact that steel is an important component of economic progress, Dammam-based National Steel and Iron Factory, produces steel billets and is helping meet the challenges of the new millennium.

The factory has an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes and in deciding to have production facilities such as those housed there, the group anticipated there would be a positive effect in the manufacture of products at the Space Frames manufacturing facility and ISPF.

The Space Frames Manufacturing Factory in Dammam was set up in response to the architectural needs of the Saudi construction industry.

"Developed by specialised international companies, the space frames give today's architect the freedom of design and attractive economic options for large roofing buildings such as airport terminals, schools, sports complexes, gymnasiums, parking lots, aircraft hangars, shopping plazas, recreation parks and exhibition centres all over the world. The versatile system, developed for wide-span roofs can accept fibreglass, plastic, canvas and many other types of coverings," a group spokesman said.

"We have installed one of the biggest space frames roofing in the Middle East at Imam Mohammad Bin Saudi University, Riyadh."

The factory has the capability to provide support in fabrication and erection of space frames roofing on any scale. High rigidity combined with low self-weight provides the possibility to build wide span structures up to 200 metres.

In the forefront of the group's activities is the Contracting Division, which has executed a number of projects over the past two decades. Among the prestigious projects it has completed were those for Saudi Aramco, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, Saudi Fertiliser Company, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and Saudi Consolidated Electric Supply Company.

The company has also performed foundation engineering works, piling and drilling, grouting, dewatering, steel fabrication and mechanical and other related construction work.

The group is also the exclusive agent and distributor for the following principals in the Kingdom for supplying scientific and medical equipment: Leo Electron Microscopy Ltd, UK; Astro-Med Inc, USA; Foster and Freeman Ltd, UK; Fritsch GmbH, Germany; Haake, GmbH, Germany; Leica Microsysems Group, Germany; Mott Manu-facturing, Canada; and Sodiprophar, France.

The Building Material Division was established in 1996 to handle imports and distribution. The company has been granted a license to manufacture oil well cement and is conducting a study to set up a grinding facility to produce that product. The division also handles other building materials such as micro silica, a cement additive used in readymix concrete.

The Industrial Supply Division deals with welding electrodes, industrial V-belts and neoprene rubber sheeting.

The welding electrodes are of ISO 9002 certification certified for thin sheet and medium thick plates in structural welding, vehicle construction and boiler and tank welding while the low hydrogen electrodes it supplies are used for high-quality steel-pipe welding, tank construction and vehicle manufacturing

The industrial V-belts include power transmission belts applicable for multiple-drive, high-speed and high-torque drive in various industries including automotive machinery.

Al Tuwairqi's factory for medium and low voltage switchgear was established in 1987. Switchgear has been supplied to clients including Saudi Consolidated Electric Supply Company and Saudi Aramco. An office has been established in the UAE to support exports.

Abut its activities in the Information Technology Division, the spokesman says: "Al Tuwairqi Group strongly believes that to remain in the forefront in a competitive global market, adopting modern information technology is the need of the day. "Al Tuwairqi is well-placed to provide the best services with strong technical support to clients in the following areas: cost effective e-mail solution, corporate e-mail service, Internet services, website development, web hosting, consulting services for corporate clients, software development, local area networking, wide area networking and total hardware supply and installation.

"The Trading Division has provided the infrastructure to the group to diversify into other areas of the business," says the spokesman, "This division has provided the opportunities to enter into the field of manufacturing." It is actively involved in the marketing and trading of electrical distribution, transmission, switchgear, conductors and power cables as well as transformers, motor generators, lighting equipment, speciality metals, machinery, spare parts, chemicals, fibre glass and safety and security products. The group is a registered supplier for Saudi Aramco and Saudi Consolidated Electric Supply Company. It recently introduced protective silicone coatings for the power industry, a data acquisition system and a tank and pipelines monitoring system.