Alyaf: production capacity of more than 3,000 tonnes per year
Alyaf Industrial Company Limited, which claims to be the only manufacturer of non-woven needle punched reinforcement and geotextile products in the Middle East, is in the process of tripling its production capacity by employing spunbond state-of-the-art technology.
Alyaf, established in 1991 in the Dammam Second Industrial area, has been able to achieve high growth in recent years.
Last year the company achieved a 10 per cent growth in sales turnover to $4.3 million, compared to 1998, due to increase in exports.
The output was also up 23 per cent at 1,600 tonnes, says Eyad Ahmad Hasan, sales manager.
Alyaf, which has a production capacity of more than 3,000 tonnes per year (tpy), produces two types of non-woven needle-punched products:
The company sources its basic raw materials from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and suppliers in Europe and the Far East.
Alyaf products comply to Saudi Arabian Standards Organisation (Saso), ASTM, DIN and BSI standards.
Speaking on Alyaf's market, Hasan says about 60 per cent of the company's output is sold in the local market.
The rest is exported to all other GCC countries, the Middle East, Europe and the Far East.
The export activity has increased due to the company establishing itself in new markets, he says.
"We have plans to export our products to Africa and North America," he says.
Listing out some of the company's recent projects, he says, Alyaf is currently supplying 400 and 550 gm/sq m geotextile material to the Sunset Beach Resort project in the Eastern Province. The client is Fama Holding Company and the order involves 40,000 sq m of geotextile fabric costing SR250,000 ($67,567).
"We have also recently supplied 40,000 sq m of 200, 300 and 400 gm/sq m geotextile material to the Shuaiba Steam Power Plant project for Sceco," says Hasan.
Commenting on the market situation, he says: "Prospects for 2000-2001 and beyond are promising due to the large size of the market and as we continue to expand our marketing activities, we continue to be the only producer of non-woven needle-punched reinforcement and geotextile products in the Middle East.
"Despite the slow start in the first quarter of this year, the Saudi market is expected to gain momentum as construction of earmarked projects, especially roads and shore protection, are due to start in the second and third quarters," says Hasan.
Though the company is the only manufacturer of such products in the region, it is facing competition from "imported products, produced using inferior recycled raw material, that are being offered locally at extremely low prices.
He says there is a need to increase product quality awareness and work with designers to ensure optimum project specifications.
