A handrail system made of fibre reinforced plastic that was supplied by Saudi Pultrusion
An expansion in Saudi Pultrusion Industry’s (SPI) factory is helping the company supply several water desalination and wastewater projects and putting it in a strong position to win new contracts within Saudi Arabia and overseas. SPI, a high-technology maker of fibre reinforced plastics (FRP) for industrial and recreational use, raised its production capacity from 350,000 to 525,000 linear meters at the end of 2010 and is introducing this year a new product line for FRP cable ladders and cable trays. 'The company has completed its product and research development and will order soon dies, moulds and tools required for the operation of the new line which will complement the existing range of FRP systems that SPI offers,' said its general manager Mohammed Hamdan. 'FRP products are proving to be the materials of the future. After claiming the distinction of having set up the first pultrusion plant in the Middle East, Saudi Pultrusion Industry has made strong strides in the engineering and construction fields by winning numerous contracts in various industrial sectors.' Hamdan said the company resorted to capacity expansion following a surge in demand for gratings, handrails, ladders, safety cages, platforms, walkways and cooling tower components. New branch office It opened a branch office in the Western Province city of Jeddah and won four contracts which it is currently implementing. One of the contracts was awarded by the firm of Abdullah Al Zamil for Trade and Industry for a desalination plant in Jeddah. Another order came from Aziz Company for supplies to be made for a sewage treatment plant in North Jeddah. The third order came from Al Fanar Company which is involved with a reverse osmosis plant of SWCC, Jeddah, and the fourth contract was awarded by Al Harbi Trading and Contracting, which is erecting 400 shafts for a Saudi Ministry of Works sanitation project. All supplies except those for the shafts will be completed by year’s end with the shafts consignments taking much longer, possibly three years. Earlier this year SPI was awarded a contract to supply and install recreational walkways/platforms using FRP profiles along the seashore of Al Uqair Beach Resort in Al Hofuf area which comes under the jurisdiction of the municipality of Amana Al Hassa, said SPI sales manager Brummel Esperaneilla. It is also supplying the Arabian Chlor Vinyl Project, a joint venture between Sahara Petrochemical and Saudi Arabian Mining Company or Maaden, he added. Hamdan: strong strides The additional output capacity has encouraged the company to explore greater opportunities for overseas business. Hamdan said an agency agreement has been signed in Egypt and another similar deal was signed in Kuwait where SPI received its maiden order for a Ministry of Electricity and Works project. The company also has in its bag several memorandums of understanding for handling the Jordanian, Iranian and Iraqi markets and talks are underway to appoint agents in Qatar and Oman. SPI’s product range covers pultruded profiles and gratings, handrail systems, ladders with safety cages, cable ladders and moulded fibreglass gratings. In marketing its products the company highlights the advantages of FRP products citing exceptional chemical and corrosion resistance, high strength to weight ratio, heat resistance, dimentional stability, dielectric properties, transparency to radio frequency transmission and excellent creep and fatigue performance. The company also stresses that its products entail low installation costs, enjoy a long service life and involve minimal maintenance. In the Eastern Region alone, SPI successfully completed various Saudi Aramco sewage treatment projects at Rahima, Dhahran, Udaliyah and Safaniya. In Jubail the Royal Commission and Marafiq have been regular buyers of the company’s FRP products, The company has its head office in Al Khobar, Eastern Province, while its production facilities are located in Al Hassa in the same province. A member of Abdullatif M Al Arfaj and Brothers Holding Co, founded in 1980 by its chairman Abdullatif Al Arfaj, Saudi Pultrusion Industry manufactures FRP products under a technical licence from Pacific Composites.
