Germany-based Schulz Piping Components plans to set up a plant in Saudi Arabia as part of an international expansion programme to meet rising demand for its products.
Nuhad Atiyeh, managing director of Schulz’s Saudi subsidiary, said the Saudi plant would manufacture pipes of stainless steel and other alloys as well as fittings and flanges in the first phase.
“Schulz has to contend with competition from unapproved vendors in India and China while also having to meet site requirements for its products. The decision to start manufacturing from Saudi Arabia will apparently solve that problem,” Atiyeh commented.
The official said Schulz had been listed as an approved supplier by all major clients and players worldwide in the energy sector.
Details of the Saudi plant were being worked out and it would most likely be located in the Eastern Province, said Atiyeh.
The Saudi facility will add to factories the company has in Germany, Malaysia and Brazil and a warehouse in the US.
The Middle East is among Schulz’s main export markets, the others being Brazil, the US, Canada, Norway and the Far East.
Schulz has also decided to expand its facilities in Germany and Brazil. The Brazilian expansion includes the installation of a fitting plant and a plant for welded stainless steel pipes. To enhance its global role, the company has opened sales and service centres in St Petersburg, Russia, and in Beijing, China, joining more than 20 Schulz Group sales and marketing offices worldwide in addition to exclusive agents and distributors.
The expansion projects follow significant rising demand seen in 2007 for stainless steel piping in the global oil and gas market and new worldwide investments in nuclear plants in addition to the desalination and waste and wastewater treatment plants.
Schulz Piping Components is fully owned by Wolfgang Schulz, who serves as chief executive officer.

Wide-ranging products
The company produces piping products in special stainless steel, high nickel alloys, duplex and super duplex material, super austenitic, titanium alloys, 6MO, clad steel and copper-nickel grades.
It offers butt weld fittings, forged fittings, flanges and seamless and welded stainless steel pipes from a quarter inch outside diameter to 98 inches.
Major contributors to Schulz’s turnover were 40 per cent seamless and welded butt weld fittings, 40 per cent welded and seamless pipes and 20 per cent flanges, said vice president Wickenkamp. “Demand is particularly high for special alloys including inconel 625, monel, UNS S32205, duplex, super duplex and alloy 20,” he said.
“Schulz offers a new way for pipe production and for the production of special pipe components,” Wickenkamp said. “The ERS (expanding, reinforcing, stretching) solution is cost-effective, flexible and offers a solution for complete project piping demands.”
The ERS processes are: expanding with constant wall thickness, upsetting the wall thickness with constant diameter and expanding with constant pipe length and thinning the wall thickness.
As well as flexibility in solving delivery problem, the Schulz cold-forming technology makes it possible for fittings and pipes to be manufactured from the same heat resulting in a more homogenous piping system for standard and special applications.
“Our wide range of abilities in cold-forming and our diversification led us to our unique position in the market,” a company statement said.
Schulz’s engineering team based in Germany reviews all drawings and specifications of inquiries, offering engineering support to the EPC contractor during the detailed engineering stage.
“Time is an extremely important factor, especially for the piping industry. Fast response is essential to minimise a negative impact on the project,” the statement says.
“The Schulz advanced cold-forming technology offers immediate solutions in the case of urgent requirements for piping components and butt weld pipe fittings.”
Raw materials in the manufacturing process including plates and seamless and welded pipes are sourced worldwide in accordance with Schulz’s ISO 9000-approved vendors list. Main procurements are done in Western Europe.
The company permanently stocks a large variety of piping components and pipes. “This ensures fast supplies worldwide for urgent demands and projects. Our range of inventory contains more than 10,000 finished items. Today our products are distributed to more than 50 countries around the globe,” the statement said.
“To optimise international transportation, our export team is in continuous contact with the most well-known and experienced logistic companies. The Schulz computerised warehouse system guarantees immediate availability and fast deliveries.”
Active in the region.
Schulz products have been requisitioned to serve prominent projects in Saudi Arabia, and other GCC countries, Iran, Iraq and worldwide.
 “It is our goal to be a powerful and flexible partner to our customers for their requirements in piping and pipe components conforming to the most demanding quality standards in today’s highly competitive industries,” it said.
The sectors it serves are desalination and water treatment plants, oil refining and petrochemical plants, onshore and offshore oil and gas production, thermal and nuclear power stations, food and beverage industries, marine and shipbuilding and chemicals.
“Our customers are and not limited to the major players in the energy sectors and include all international EPC contractors.”
In Saudi Arabia, Schulz clients include Sipchem, Adco/NPCC, Aramco/JGC, Aramco, Sabic, Jana, SWCC-Berkefeld and SWCC-AES, according to the company’s  project reference list.
The Aramco projects were listed as Ras Tanura, a refinery revamp programme, Shaybah, Petro-Rabigh-Hitachi and Khursaniyah /Bechtel-Technip.
The Sabic projects were Yansab-Toyo/Flour, Sharq-Shaw and Yanpet II.
For SWCC-Berkefeld the company worked on Desalination RAKA and for SWCC-AES it was involved in an RO plant.
The company has been very active in Qatar and the UAE. The Qatar projects included Pearl C8, Pearl 02 and Qafco 4.
Some of the UAE projects listed were Adco OGD III Upstream, Adma Opco GFP, AGD II, Borouge 2 and Zukum gas processing facilities.