PERFECTION, quality and modernity are the hallmarks of the recently-established Eastern Precast Concrete (EPC), a part of the Eastern Trading and Contracting Establishment (ETE Group) in Saudi Arabia.

Although it launched operations as recently as January this year, the company has already been involved with major projects in the kingdom including the prestigious King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) in Thuwal, the Future Ceramics plant in Dammam, and the National Chevron Phillips (NCP) olefins project in Jubail.
“At present, we have successfully won a significant market share in the Eastern Province,” says a spokesman for the company. “EPC’s marketing team is working on securing major projects not only in the Eastern Province but also in major key cities such as Riyadh in the Central Province and Jeddah in the Western Province.”
EPC was set up in response to the high demand for precast concrete such as beams and columns, walls and panels, and hollow-core roof slabs, during the recent construction boom.
“With an eye on the huge anticipated demand for these products, Engineer Morhaf Bu-Khamsin, vice-president business development, ETE Group, and Engineer Ahmed Bu-Khamsin, vice-president for operations, boldly went forward with their plans, despite the onset of the global economic crisis,” says the spokesman.
Hence, following a careful and thorough study of the market and product research, EPC was established and is now geared to meet the growing demand for top-quality precast products amidst increasing market competition.

Focus on quality
“Ever since the idea of establishing EPC was conceived, the pursuit of perfection has always been our goal. The management, therefore, decided to equip the factory with state-of-the-art facilities in order to ensure its compliance with the highest local and international standards for precast products,” the spokesman says.
“This apart, EPC is manned by highly-qualified professional who are well experienced and dedicated to producing the highest quality of precast products,” he says.
Since starting full operations in January, EPC has served major project requirements for precast elements including the boundary walls for school buildings at Kaust, boundary walls and other precast elements for Future Ceramics plant; beams and columns for Package D in NCP’s project, which involves the offshore, utility and tankage area being built by Mohammad Al Mojil Group (MMG) for Japan Gas Company (JGC), and hollowcore slabs for several car-park buildings in Al Khobar.
At EPC, all the departments work together to enhance service efficiency and ensure the optimum quality of products.
The company’s engineering department consists of highly-skilled professional staff while its quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) department employs the latest equipment and a team of highly-skilled professionals, thus ensuring a detailed and comprehensive quality assurance procedure.
EPC continuously seeks to improve processes and methods of production to serve the customer better and more cost effectively, the spokesman says.
“In order to maintain design integrity of precast elements, all QA/QC staff follow the latest technologies and innovation at the American Concrete Institute (ACI), Canadian Pre-stressed Institute (CPI) and Precast Concrete Institute (PCI),” the spokesman adds.
All EPC products are designed, manufactured and erected to meet the requirements of clients, architects and engineers and according to international and local Saudi Aramco standards as well as Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) material standard specifications.
“With the vision of becoming a market leader and the number one provider of top-quality precast products and precast buildings solutions, EPC is now fully integrated into ETE Group, and is poised to meet growing challenges by taking a major role in the kingdom’s precast industry,” the spokesman concludes.
ETE Group was founded in 1971 as a general trading and contracting firm by Ali A Bu Khamseen, the owner and chairman.
The company’s head office is in Al Khobar, while the factory is located in the Second Industrial City of Dammam.
Over the years, the company has widened the scope and range of its operations to include such diverse activities as readymix concrete, glass and aluminium, metal and steel, transportation, cement products, stone quarries and precast concrete. ETE Group also has joint ventures with major European companies.