Sigma Paints Saudi Arabia, which last year completed a SR4 million ($1.06 million) extension of its factory facilities to achieve a total production capacity of 60,000 tonnes per year, is looking at new production facilities as one of the options to consolidate its position in the region.

"Sigma Paints is exporting approximately 25 per cent of its production and aims at strengthening its position in various export (emerging) markets," a company spokesman said.

The company has two Hotel industry 295

DUBAI: It's been business as usual in the Gulf's hospitality trade despite concerns by some industry businessmen over the ongoing conflict in Palestine.

Such activities indicate the 'business-as-usual' attitude that depicts the true situation of the region, they said.

Dubai beach hotels have experienced four consecutive months of near full-house occupancies, according to the report.

The rest of the region was unaffected by the recent hostilities, according to Le Meridien Hotels and l affairs. Besides having its own technical and R&D facilities, Sigma Paints Saudi Arabia also uses technical and R&D resources from the SigmaKalon group that started operations in Holland way back in 1722.

Sigma Paints opened recently its state-of-the-art Service Centre in Kuwait's Shuwaikh Industrial Area in association with its sole distributor in the country, Building Systems Corporation.

The company, which has a 12 per cent market share in Saudi Arabia, has several popular brands in its decorative paints and protective coatings ranges. Among decorative paints, products doing well are Sigmulto Pharos, a recent addition that produces a polished marble-type effect; the Sigmulto Expression that gives a multicolour finish with many application and decoration possibilities; Sigmacryl that provides a water-based finish for both exterior and interior use, and the Sigma Textured MP that gives a textured finish.

Popular products in the protective coatings category are Sigmarite EPH, which is used for pipeline refurbishment, Sigma Novaguard, a coating for tanks; Sigmalining FDP 67, a new product for hot gas flowlines, and Sigmazam Primer, used on structural steel.

Environmental protection is expected to be a major concern in the regional paint industry. "Because of its European heritage, Sigma Paints is well-equipped for this trend," the Sigma spokesman said,

"A substantial part of its decorative range is water-based and thus does not contain any solvents. In the range of protective coatings, Sigma is at the global forefront of the solvent-free paint technology. Well-known examples are Sigmarite EPH for pipeline refurbishment and Sigma Novaguard for tanks.

"Sigma Paints has also developed an alternative to the coal-tar epoxies, which is SigmaCover DTM (direct-to-metal). In the sector of marine paints the trend is towards tin-free products, of which Sigma offers various alternatives." Approximately 70 to 75 per cent of he raw materials used in the manufacture of Sigma paints are locally sourced. The remainder of the raw materials is brought in from various countries around the world.

About the challenges facing the industry at the moment, he said the industry needed to strive for a process of consolidation after which only the quality manufacturers remained. "This is in the best interest of consumers who need to be served before, during and after their purchasing with quality products and services at value-for-money prices.

A high percentage of the paint market consists of adulterated paints, according to Tareq Al Faris, lecturer at the King Saud University and chairman of the paint and varnish technical committee of the Saudi Arabian Standards Organisation. The adulteration is accomplished through inferior quality, trademark manipulations, false guarantees and falsification of the volume content of drums. Sigma wants a more active government role in protecting the private and business consumers. "The paint sector is characterised by overcapacity and too many unqualified manufacturers who do not provide any back-up in all those cases where the inferior paints lead to complaints. This is not in the interest of the consumers nor of the paint business," it said.

Meanwhile, students from a Saudi university, who won the first prize of SR10,000 ($2,666) in the Sigma paints architectural award, were also awarded a bonus of $5,000 worth of quality Sigma paint to implement their award-winning project. The winning team, led by Muhammad Umar Ba-Busail, collected the first prize in the contest in which student groups from the department of architecture of King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dammam took part.

The contest was held in conjunction with KFUPM and ran during September with the students developing a project to demonstrate the effective use of interior colour on a building. A committee consisting of faculty members and Jo Paffen, general manager, Sigma Paints, chose the winning teams and these were announced at a special ceremony attended by Professor Dr Abdullah Abdul Gader, vice-rector for graduate studies and scientific research.

"Even we at Sigma, who as a company draw on over 275 years of experience from our association with the SigmaKalon group, have been greatly impressed by both the quality of work of the students as well as their enthusiasm for the award scheme, and some students made very impressive presentations to accompany their projects," said Jo Paffen. He said the company would support the winning project with $5,000 of quality Sigma paint and that it was looking forward to establishing the award as an annual event, perhaps across the Gulf.