Saudi Industrial Resins (SIR) has signed two new agreements with Ashland Inc - the leading global producer of vinylester and unsaturated polyester resins and one of the most successful speciality chemical corporations.

A new technology licence agreement gives SIR access to novel formulation and application know-how, together with enhanced technical support, from Ashland. A linked trademark licence allows the company to use Ashland’s brands, which will supplement SIR’s own successful Siropol brand.

SIR’s recent programme to upgrade its internal research and development facilities – including the installation of an upgraded range of mechanical and thermal test equipment – will now be complemented by Ashland’s leading-edge composites technologies. SIR has worked closely with some of the leading high-technology regional composites fabricators in joint development of specialised systems, and the new licences will add further possibilities to that effort. In particular, the company will be able to further develop its technical collaboration with certain prominent Saudi and regional pipe-manufacturing units.

“We’ve found that the most successful regional composite fabricators in these difficult economic times – especially in pipes and fittings – are those for whom collaborative technical expertise, and joint application-development, are more important than up-front resin cents-per-kilo savings,” said SIR managing director Nicholas Judd. 

 “The sector has already seen significant product failures from some fabricators, where cheap resins have been used. The SIR-Ashland range is supported by many years of case-histories. It is a fact that composites products, especially pipes and tanks, produced by qualified fabricators using proven high-quality resins, have extraordinarily long service lives,” he added.

Novel technologies
Included in the Ashland licences is access to novel technologies in marine resin systems, in engineered stone, in gel coats, and in many other composites applications. SIR’s recent acquisition of a 35,000 tonne manufacturing unit in Jubail will support the company’s continued growth into new composites and geographies. The Jubail facility will allow SIR to add capacity – when required - at very low incremental costs. The facility is located on the doorstep of manufacturers – present and planned – of key petrochemical raw materials. The regional resins market is severely over-traded at the moment, and several of the newer resin producers are expected to collapse in the short-term.

SIR has continued to invest in its fleet of bulk-delivery vehicles which, in tandem with its very significant resin storage assets, allow the company to consistently offer excellent logistics services throughout the region  to complement the high levels of technical quality.

SIR’s Siripol drum-filling line

Key accreditations
The company is growing its range of key accreditations for its product range. A selection of its materials are WRAS-certified for contact with potable water, and have Lloyd’s certifications. Also in progress are fire-retardant gradings.

The company’s long-established Jeddah factory has a new ISO14001 accreditation underway; this will be rolled-out to SIR’s other sites. The Jeddah factory has recently undergone a detailed third-party environmental and operational review, and was identified as a model site with regard to environmental compliance and safety, and with general operational excellence.

The key area for growth in specialised composite materials is in replacement of steel in pipes, vessels, and fittings, deployed in corrosive and high-temperature environments. Ashland leads this field globally – particularly with its Derakane and Hetron vinylester ranges. Ashland and SIR will explore other key technologies – in addition to polyesters and vinylesters – for regional sale and production. Ashland’s acquisitions of Hercules and of ISP add very significant speciality chemical ranges to their portfolio.