Riyadh-based Rowad National Plastic Company has announced that work is progressing well on its HDPE geomembrane plant and expects to commission it by August of this year.

Rowad, an affiliate of National Industrialisation Company or Tasnee, has entered into a joint venture with the US company Wasew Technologies and Egypt’s Golden Trade to set up the 10,000 tonnes per year (tpy) plant in Dammam in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Region.
The project is part of Rowad’s continuing strategy of diversification and growth with the production of “distinguished engineering plastic products,” said Mohammed Z Al-Laabon, chairman, Rowad International Geosynthetics Company, which is building the plant. “This first geo-membrane manufacturing line in the Middle East will allow us to serve better the geosynthetic needs of potential customers locally and internationally,” he added. Al-Laabon is also the general manager of Rowad National Plastic Company.
“With the new operation, Rowad will take a quantum leap in its overall annual sales, and continue to maintain its leadership position in the plastic sheet business, along with a strong position in injection moulding and industrial plastic waste recycling protecting the Saudi and regional environment,” Al-Laboon comme-nted.
Licence for the plant has been issued by the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (Sagia) as the foreign partners will hold 30 per cent of the shareholding.
The Rowad geomembrane will be available in a smooth, one-sided and double-sided texture in various thickness (0.5 mm to 2.50 mm) and unique 7 m width rolls. The Rowad geomembrane is to be manufactured using first-quality, high-molecular weight polyethylene specifically formulated to be resistant to sunlight, chemicals, leachate, toxic wastes and hydrocarbons.
The geomembrane will meet the growing demand of the Saudi market driven by government and private construction projects in the municipal/sanitary landfill, water treatment and mining industries.
 “On the other side, we are already in touch with several major installation companies in the Middle East and Africa,” says Ashraf A Shah, manager for sales and marketing. 
“We also signed an off-take agreement with JV partner Wasew Technologies and Golden Trade in Egypt for lifting 50 per cent of the capacity for necessary supply to their ongoing overseas projects. The rest of the capacity will be used for growing local and GCC markets, which till today remain as an import market.”
Rowad, launched in 1994, manufactures poly-carbonate (PC) sheets, acrylic sheets, high-impact polystyrene sheets (HIPS) and ABS sheets. The capacity of the various products in its factories in Riyadh and Dammam is 40,000 tpy.
The company is well known for its PC sheets and is considered a design leader for the product whose combined capacity in the two factories is 7,500 tonnes. Shah describes Rowad’s PC sheet as “a high-performance engineering thermoplastic characterised by high clarity, heat and flame resistance, dimensional stability and high impact strength.”
The company claims that the use of PC sheet products in Gulf construction projects has more than doubled over the past decade, becoming the most popular alternative to glass.
Shah observes that PC sheet products meet one of the biggest challenges in today’s architectural environment — creating natural light in open spaces.  While meeting the challenge, PC sheet products provide greater design flexibility than glass, he adds.
“Since its inception, it has been used where safety is a priority: space shuttle windows, astronaut visors and industrial eye prot-ection,” he notes. “Today, PC has found a large audience as an architectural sheet product, repla-cing traditional glazing in skylights, sidelights, greenhouses, transpor-tation shelters, walkway covers and many other applications requiring strength and transparency.”
Shah says Rowad’s PC sheet is virtually unbreakable and has 250 times the impact strength of glass and 30 times that of acrylic.
One of Rowad’s businesses is the manufacture of plastic pails. The company announced recently it would introduce new sizes for its injection-moulded in-mould labeling (IML) plastic pails.
“We have several big orders in hand and delivery of 18- and 21-litre pails is going smoothly as we have a large production capacity.  Soon we are going to add other popular sizes to complement the range,” said Shah.
Rowad introduced the pails two years ago for packing products such as paints, putty, ink and grease and food items such as ice cream.
“The concept behind this is the importance of packaging as a marketing tool and making the plastic pails elegant while at the same time making them cost effective, colourful and eco-friendly, meeting global standards,” said Al-Laabon.
“In today’s competitive world, packaging is one area of marketing where some leading companies have increased spending. Brand managers are increasingly realising the critical role that packaging can serve in the marketing mix. The opportunity is to optimise the use of packaging, leveraging all aspects including design, structure, function, aesthetics, and graphics to achieve enhanced value and benefits,” commented Al-Laabon.
“If the packaging is out-dated or is non-distinctive in its category, it is probably not building the required brand image significantly. The time to redefine the role of packaging as a marketing tool is now.
“Keeping this in mind, Rowad took the initiate to develop and supply the innovative plastic pails it is making. The labelling is better than the pressure-sensitive (self adhesive) or heat-transfer one.  As it is embedded in the wall of the product, it is very durable and nearly impossible to remove.  All post-mould labelling operations are eliminated along with printing and equipment costs because the in-mould labelled product is ejected from the mould fully labelled.
“As an ISO:9001 quality system company we are open to work as strategic partners with paint manufacturers for mutual long-term benefit.”