A Bahrain-Malaysian joint venture to manufacture industrial gaskets, the first company in Bahrain to produce such products, expects to capitalise on strong demand to become a model enterprise in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector.
Bahrain Teknologam, which received a Bahrain Development Bank (BDB) soft loan and operates at the Bahrain Business Incubator Centre (BBIC) in Hidd, began trial production earlier this year with machinery imported from the Malaysian partner, Teknologam.
The Bahraini side of the partnership holds 60 per cent of the shareholding with the Malaysian party holding the remainder. The company has equipment to produce 35 tonnes of spiral wound gaskets and non-metallic gaskets on a single shift.
Spiral wound gaskets are commonly used in the oil and gas industry because of their ability to resist high temperatures and pressures and tolerate flange surface irregularities. They comprise a gasket body made of a filler material and a winding material with an inner ring and an outer ring made of carbon steel and other alloys.
The non-metallic gaskets the companymakes uses non-asbestos products such as graphite and polytetrafluorethylene.
"Bahrain Petroleum Company will be our main customer," says Mohammed Saleh, chief promoter of the company and one of five Bahraini shareholders. Several other Bahraini companies also import gaskets, among them being Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), General Petrochemicals Industrial Company (GPIC), Banagas and Asry, and Saleh views them as potential customers.
According to Saleh, his plant passed with flying colours a reliability audit conducted by Bapco, which consumes about 40 per cent of some 30 tonnes of gaskets used in Bahrain. He estimates current annual demand in Bahrain is worth BD50,000 and rising at 30 per cent every year, making the venture a potentially very busy one.
General manager Ahmed Daumi Tahir, whose brother Kamal is the managing director of Teknologam Malaysia, says larger machines will be introduced in the second phase to deliver sizes up to 80 inches from the current maximum of 60 inches. One of the two existing machines can produce gaskets from half inch to 24 inches while the other makes them in the range of six inches to 60 inches.
"In the second phase we will be able to produce double-jacketed and heat-exchange gaskets," says Ahmed, whose experience at Teknologam Malaysia is proving invaluable in Bahrain.
Teknologam Malaysia's plant at Sungai Petani, in northern Malaysia, has a capacity to produce 200 tonnes per year in a single shift and its main customer is the Malaysian energy giant Petronas.
Bahrain Teknologam will be looking at business in Middle East markets. The Malaysian partner has a representative in Cairo, who will facilitate supply of products from the Bahrain plant.
"The Bahrain venture is our first. We have another one coming up in Brunei this year and yet another one is in the pipeline in Libya," said Ahmad.
Ahmad says the Bahraini company will encourage other Malaysian businessmen to consider partnerships with Bahrainis. In time they will view Bahrain as a hub for their Gulf and Middle East operations.
