With increasing awareness of rockwool’s thermal, acoustical and fire insulation properties and its growing need in the local and international markets, Riyadh-based Saudi Rockwool Factory has a lot to look forward to when it returns to the Big 5 show this year.

A member of the Amnest Group, the company will be displaying its rockwool products at the show, which include panels, boards, blankets, ceiling tiles, pipe insulation, felt and loose wool, in different dimensions, density and thicknesses.
The company is upbeat about the show, having participated at the event for the past three consecutive years.
“We have made good contacts and deals through this exhibition, which is attended by most of the major construction companies,” says Murad Abu Sammour, marketing manager.
Commenting about the company’s business levels, he says: “Business has been very good this year, and is increasing. Our domestic market is growing speedily. To cope with the demand, we have expanded our operation area and tripled our production capacity.”
The company intends to further expand its capacity while focusing on entering   new markets. “In addition, we intend to launch some new insulation products in a bid to maintain our position as a leading insulation manufacturer in the region,” he adds. 
Rockwool is manufactured from various types of diabase rocks, mainly basalt of specific predetermined chemical compositions, which are melted at super-high temperatures in a technically advanced but simple process. The resulting natural silicate is drumspun at very high speeds to produce ‘hair-fine’ inert fibres that are bonded together with a special thermosetting resin and impregnated with special additives.
“Rockwool is one of the best known thermal, acoustic and fire insulation materials. Rockwool products such as panels, boards, mattresses, pipe insulations, felt and loose wool have been proven to provide highly effective thermal insulation, fire and soundproofing in commercial and industrial applications,” Abu Sammour says.
Recognising this potential of rockwool and responding to the ongoing constructional and industrial development in Saudi Arabia and the region, the Saudi Rockwool Factory was established in 1992 in the Third industrial area south of Riyadh, over an area of 30,000 sq m. Another factor which spurred the Amnest Group to choose to manufacture rockwool was the local availability of its raw materials. The main raw materials used in the production process are limestone and basalt, which are available abundantly in Saudi Arabia; other materials used in production such as resin, aluminum sheet, wire mesh and fibreglass, are imported from various specialised companies involved in this sector.
The factory, which employs more than 160 highly-trained personnel, is divided into two main sections. The first section contains three production lines which started off with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year (tpy) producing dark gray wool, while the second section contains two production lines with a capacity of 15,000 tpy of  yellow wool.
In response to the growing demand, the factory has recently boosted its combined production capacity from 20,000 tpy to 60,000 tpy, using state-of-the-art equipment and machinery.
Describing two of the company’s products, Abu Sammour says: “Our HD board is a high-density rockwool board insulation, produced from molten basalt rocks spun to fine fibres and bonded with a heat resistant binder. It meets the requirements of the technical standard ASTM C-612. It is specially designed for high thermal resistance applications for cold and hot surfaces such as vessels, exchangers, storage tanks, ovens, boilers, chimney wall and heated ducts.
“Similarly, our HD blanket is produced from molten basalt rocks, lightly bonded with a thermosetting binder and stitched with cotton or fibreglass yarns to form a flexible blanket. The HD blanket can be non-faced or faced from one or both sides with reflective vapour retarder reinforced aluminum foil. It meets the technical requirements of ASTM C-553 which is the standard specification for industrial types of mineral fibre blanket insulations.”
Saudi Rockwool Factory’s products have been used for various projects in the region. To name a few, the company has supplied panels, blankets and pipes to ABV Rock Group for the Strategic Stores in Riyadh, Madinah, Abha and Bahrah in Saudi Arabia; blankets to a sugar refinery in Jeddah as well as to oil refineries in Jeddah and Jubail; panels to the Bahrain City Centre, Almoayyed Tower and the Bahrain World Trade Centre in Bahrain; panels and blankets to Bahrain’s Formula One international circuit and the Bahrain Financial Harbour.
The company, according to Samour, is committed to quality on all fronts. “We perform regular product testing, both locally and internationally, to the highest standards. We have a well-trained and experienced technical team, which ensures that we deliver products to the highest standards. At the same time, our qualified and enterprising marketing team has effectively helped us penetrate many markets in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe.”
Saudi Rockwool Factory is ISO 9002 certificated since 1998, and the factory also obtained the CE mark this year. The company wil be at stand E162.