Alfanar Electrical Systems consolidated its position as a serious player in the Middle East market for the supply of electrical material for the building construction sector by registering a 52 per cent surge in turnover in 2006, and now looks set to have another good year.

Turnover was SR687 million ($183.2 million) in 2006 and SR350 million in first-half 2007. The company expects to round up the year with SR900 million in total sales, an official said.
“We have order bookings and based on our commitment to customers and our strong market reputation together with the feedback we have, we are confident we will achieve that level,” said marketing and pre-qualification engineer Waleed Obeed.
Earlier this year, Alfanar signed contracts with the Saudi Electricity Company as well as with several schools, universities, hospitals and clinics, Obeed said.
Wire and cable products contributed to close to half the turnover of the first half. “We have introduced innovations in wiring devices and wireless lighting systems,” Obeed said, without elaborating.
The company, a family business  owned by Abdulsalam M Almutlaq and Sabah M Almutlaq, has announced it will create a complex called Alfanar Industrial City sprawled out across 700,000 sq m within Riyadh’s industrial zone. According to the company, the city will house an extended unit of its existing wires and cables manufacturing facility and a new ceramics plant.
The current facilities are located in Phase II of the New Industrial Area in Riyadh across a complex area of 51,000 sq m. Alfanar employs 120 engineers and nearly 700 workers as well as 288 supporting staff. It is also involved in two overseas ventures, one in Dubai Investment Park, where it makes service boxes, and another in Suzhou, China, where it manufactures electrical accessories. The company operates design and development centres in Riyadh, Chennai (India), Cairo and Suzhou.
As well as wires and cables and wiring accessories, Alfanar’s production covers a range of low voltage and medium voltage products, automation systems and metal enclosures. They are marketed under the Eletra and Alf brands.
The company boasts some 800 products in various specifications. These include low voltage products such as load centres, circuit breaker enclosures, distribution panel boards and circuit breakers and medium voltage products including packages substations, metal clad switchgears, cubicle switchgears, SF6 ring main units and custom-built and retrofit solutions.
Alfanar’s automation systems include control panels, the motor control centre, relay and control panels and AC/DC panels.  It also offers metal enclosures in a range of categories.
The wires and cables range embraces single-core and multi-core items, coaxial cables and telephone, networking and power cables. In wiring accessories, it makes switches and sockets, GI boxes and power cables.
The manufacture of medium voltage products is accomplished under technology transfer agreements signed with Cutler Hammer, the Schneider Group and ElettroMeccanica Adriatica.
Last year, Alfanar’s facilities processed 11,200 tonnes of steel and 610 tonnes of copper and accomplished 828,000 sq m of painted surface and 241,000 sq m of plated surface.
The company has created substantial production capacities, and monthly they are 25,000 load centres, 15,000 circuit breaker enclosures, 12,000 service boxes, 2.5 million switch boxes, 40,000 junction boxes, 15 package substations, 20 MV panels and 2.58 million of electrical wiring accessories, among other capacities.
As well as meeting some of the Saudi demand for electrical products in the building construction industry, Alfanar has succeeded in penetrating some markets abroad, particularly in the GCC and other Arab states. Exports also go to Cyprus, Malta and Ghana.  Helping in the overseas distribution network are sales offices in Dubai, Kuwait, Egypt and Iraq.
Over the years, the company has been involved with a number of prestigious projects in Saudi Arabia and beyond. These include Saudi projects relating to Saad Hospital, Wataniah Paper Factory, Savola Plastic Factory, Sabic Lab II, Military Factory, Al Kharj; Prince Mansur Military Hospital, Aquamarine Mall, Dammam; Centeria Mall, Riyadh; and Ikea Store, Riyadh.
Away from Saudi Arabia, the projects included Dream Land and Smart Village (both in Egypt); Prince Hamza Hospital (Jordan); Movenpick Hotel (Yemen) and Saleem Salam Tunnel (Beirut, Lebanon). 
Featuring in the company’s Saudi client list are Saudi Electric Company, Saudi Aramco, Sabic, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, SWC, the Ministry of Interior and the Civil Defence authority, among other ministries and public and private organisations.