Saudi Ceramic Company (SCC), one of the oldest and leading ceramic companies in the Middle East, once again looks forward to a successful participation at the Big 5 show, with its latest range of products including sanitary ware, ceramic wall and floor tiles, porcelain tiles and electric water heaters.

Speaking on the company’s past performance at the show, CEO Abdulkarim Alnafie says: “We have had a successful experience in the past events, where we finalised several deals. The Big 5 is the biggest and most well-known trade show in the region with a dedicated section for bathrooms, ceramic tiles and water heaters. It is attended by professionals in the sector from all around the world.”
SCC itself has been growing rapidly in recent years. “Since the past five years, SCC has expanded its production capacities for all its product groups, using state-of-the-art technologies to maintain a high level of quality and productivity,” Alnafie comments. 
As in previous years, SCC has lined up a portfolio of new products for this year’s show as “it is essential to introduce new products for all our sectors at the exhibition to enable us to draw the attention of visitors and thus create new demand as well as penetrate new markets,” he adds, without revealing details.
Established in 1977 and headquartered in Riyadh with a sales office in Dubai, SCC owns five factories including a sanitary ware factory, two facilities for tiles production, an electric water heaters unit and a frit plant.
The company employs over 2,100 people, and recorded a sales turnover of $164 million last year.
In order to meet demand in the local and export markets, SCC plans to increase its ceramic and porcelain tiles production capacity from its present capacity of 32 million sq m per year to 50 million sq m per year by the end of 2010, according to Alnafie. Similarly, it plans to increase its sanitary ware production capacity from its present 1.8 million pieces per year to 3 million pieces by the end of 2010, and its water heaters production capacity from 900,000 pieces per year to 1.6 million pieces by the end of 2010.
“As a first step towards diversification, the company now owns 50 per cent of a new ceramic clay pipe factory which is now under construction. A new water heater factory, with a production capacity of 600,000 pieces per year, is also presently under construction and is expected to be completed early next year,” he says.
Propelling its growth plans forward is the company’s excellent performance over the recent past. SCC sales have shown a 45 per cent growth in the first half of 2008 as compared to the first half of last year.
“These positive results have been mainly achieved due to the increased output of our factories as well as the rising demand in local and foreign markets for SCC products,” he points out.
“SCC faces the challenge of maintaining and improving its position in the market and continuing to grow and leverage its competitive position for the benefit of its shareholders, employees, and society at large. The financial results for 2007 and the first half of 2008 speak for themselves in terms of achievements in meeting and exceeding planned sales and production targets.”
Complementing SCC’s growth and expansion plans and its remarkable performance in the past year, says Alnafie: “The construction market in Saudi Arabia is enjoying its best years for both public and private construction projects and it is expected to maintain this growth level for years to come. Although the market is very competitive, SCC has been able to increase its market share in the local as well as in the Gulf and the Arab world markets.”
And the good times for SCC, according to him, are here to stay. “The construction boom is expected to continue on the back of high oil revenues in the Gulf, and we anticipate rising demand for construction materials and for SCC products as well.”
The company will be present at Rashid Hall D 491 at the show.