A fibreglass manufacturing facility will be set up in Bahrain at an investment of more than BD5 million  (13.2 million), according to an announcement.

The plant, being set up by Ilium at the Bahrain International Investment Park, will manufacture more than 15,000 tonnes of reinforced fibreglass which will be sold to customers in the transportation, recreational and alternative energy industries in the Middle East, US, Europe, Asia and to developing markets including Brazil, according to the company.

Bahrain's Free Trade Agreement with the US will likely facilitate the company's exports to its customers in the US.
The recently established Abahsain fibreglass manufacturing plant at the BIIP will be a potential supplier of raw material to Ilium.

The Ilium partners are Bahrain Fibreglass (BFG) International and French fibreglass industry experts Gilbert Chomarat and Frederic Romier.

Headquartered in Bahrain, BFG has grown to become a worldwide brand in the design and manufacture of composite fibreglass products.

Gilbert Chomarat is the former chairman of the French-based Chomarat Group, a 100-year-old company and a global leader in the production of reinforced fibreglass composites for the transport, aviation and construction sectors
Frederic Romier has wide experience in export marketing and in developing distributor networks in the composite industry for both Chomarat Group and US-based Nida-Core.

Announcing the project, in the presence of Bahraini Industries Minister Dr Hassan Fakhro, the Ilium directors explained the main reasons why the company had chosen BIIP for this new investment. They said BIIP had created a quality environment for manufacturing and overall Bahrain itself had a quality business climate. They also spoke of the quality of access to regional and global markets via the King Fahad Causeway to Saudi Arabia, the new Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Port and the proposed Friendship Bridge to Qatar.

Ilium will manufacture and distribute reinforced fibreglass using a new process technology, which was designed, developed and patented by Chomarat.

The company is building a 6,000 sq m facility on a 10,000 sq m site at the BIIP. The plant will generate 50 jobs for Bahrainis with further jobs being provided in transportation and logistics.

In March of this year, Dr Fakhro announced another new investment at the BIIP in the fibreglass sector from Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company based in Dammam.