DCI-Harco, Saudi Arabia's largest manufacturer of water-based emulsion polymers for the paint and adhesives industries, has undergone a series of major developments over the past year.

Following the merger of its parent companies, Harlow Chemicals and Synthomer, the new group has expanded both its product range and territories.

The Synthomer group is now a truly global company, with manufacturing and sales facilities in 12 different locations around the world, from the UK, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany to the Middle East, Malaysia and the USA.

"DCI-Harco now has access to new technology from the Synthomer group, including SBR latex, sold predominantly into the construction and textiles coating industries, and a new range of pure acrylic dispersions for speciality surface coatings, solvent-free paints, high gloss exterior coatings, clear lacquers, varnishes and protective wood coatings," said DCI-Harco sales and marketing manager Alan Heeley.

"This technology has been very successfully applied in the European markets over the past few years, and interest in high performance water-based pure acrylics is growing fast in the Middle East region," Heeley said.

"The massive boom in the construction industries in the UAE and Qatar in particular is creating many new opportunities for SBR latex, where it has been used for many years as an admixture for cement, providing enhanced performance in terms of compressive and tensile strengths, bond, density and reduced shrinkage.

"The benefits of SBR incorporation into concrete construction are well documented, but in addition there is growing interest shown in its use for modification of bitumen and as an excellent waterproofing membrane for domestic and industrial environments. DCI-Harco has a wide range of both commodity and speciality SBR products it is now marketing on behalf of Synthomer throughout the Gulf region."

In addition to these new products, DCI-Harco has gained the rights to a major expansion of its sales territory, and is now servicing Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and the Eastern African countries of Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. To cope with this increase in throughput, the company has invested extensively in further plant facilities. Over the past eight years since the original joint venture company was founded, the company has averaged over 16 per cent year-on-year growth of sales output, compared to an estimated annual regional market growth of four to six per cent. DCI-Harco stresses that its philosophy reflects the slogan of its parent Synthomer: "International technology, Individual service".

"We are selling far more than polymers, we are selling performance, service, technical backup, quality and peace of mind. We sell reliability, trust and confidence, which are the ingredients vital to our success in this increasingly competitive market," said Heeley.