IN LINE with global moves towards environment protection, Al Kifah Building Materials Company (AKBMC) is spearheading a drive towards greater environmental awareness and pollution control in Saudi Arabia.

The company is sponsoring the efforts of a new environmental committee set up by the Al Hasa Chamber of Commerce – the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia – which is headed by AKBMC vice-president Khalid Al Saleem.
“The committee is focusing on pollution – primarily in the industrial and agricultural sectors, which are the prime perpetrators of pollution in the environment,” Al Saleem tells Gulf Construction.
“We have begun to gather information and create greater awareness among municipalities, university and industries and aim to provide solutions and recommendations targeted at reducing the levels of pollution in the country,” he adds.
As sponsors of this important committee, Al Kifah is studying ways to control levels of pollution in its core sectors of concrete production and quarrying (crushers).  This has involved looking at how places like Europe are tackling the problem by using filters to reduce dust emission. 
“To address the pollution problem caused by readymix concrete companies, the Saudi government is now trying to move these operations outside urban areas. We believe with the use of proper filters, the problem caused by dust emission could be resolved,” he says.
As part of its commitment to the environment, the company has already succeeded in obtaining ISO14000 certification for some of its factories for their environment management systems and standards and is exerting efforts to ensure all its production facilities are similarly certified soon.
Apart from its focus on the environment, over the past year AKBMC has set its sights on expanding its network of operations in Saudi Arabia in a bid to cover the entire kingdom. The Al Hasa-headquartered concrete specialist continues to grow its business throughout the kingdom, promptly responding and even anticipating the needs of the market.

“We are supplying readymix and blocks throughout Saudi Arabia, having covered most of the kingdom with our network. There is only a small area in the north of the kingdom, which we are set to conquer soon,” Al Saleem says, pointing out that the company currently covers around 90 per cent of the kingdom.
The company today has as many as 23 readymix factories, close to 500 truck mixers, 200 concrete stationary and mobile pumps and its own bulkers to provide logistic support services. Its factories are advanced and equipped with ice plants.
To ensure its factories comply with international standards and produce high-quality products, AKBMC has equipped all laboratories in each branch with the latest testing and monitoring systems. Desalinated water is used in the production of readymix.
“We have the capability to open factories anywhere, thanks to the support of our subsidiary Al Kifah Batching Plant, which is the only batching plant manufacturer in the Middle East,” he adds.
Commenting on the market, Al Saleem says: “The construction market in Saudi Arabia has been booming.  However, since last month there has been an increase in metal prices and a shortage of material, hence projects – particularly the larger ones – have started to slow down.
He continues: “The global financial downturn has affected us slightly but we have managed to cope well having had several projects for our regular customers in our order books.
“What gives us a competitive edge in the market is our focus on quality and customer service and the fact that we do not take advantage of price escalation and shortages in the market.”
Al Kifah continues to supply to a number of prestigious projects including the Manifa oilfield development, where the company has delivered more than 180,000 cu m of concrete in an extremely challenging environment.  The development entails the building of several drilling islands and a 41-km causeway that will enable transportation from the coast to shallow-water offshore platforms. The estimated $12-billion Manifa project, when complete, will add 900,000 barrels per day (bpd) of heavy crude oil to Aramco’s production.
“We received a special appreciation from Saudi Aramco as the challenge of supplying concrete to such a remote location created a logistical nightmare,” he says.
The company has been supplying to Turkish contractor STFA, which is completing its work on the Manifa field and is now supplying to Al Moajil which is building the oil processing facilities.
AKBMC has also supplied concrete to the Shaibah oilfield expansion, where once again it was able to meet the challenge of supplying concrete to a location 650 km from the nearest point of civilisation in an extremely harsh environment. The company was also the sole supplier of concrete for the Northern Cement factory near the Iraqi border.
AKBMC is one of the main suppliers to the Jubail II project, which entails expansion of the Jubail industrial city.
The firm was involved in the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) project in Jeddah and is now supplying a number of university projects in Saudi Arabia.  These include the Princess Nora University in Riyadh, Jizan University and the university in Hail.
Other landmark projects include the King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), border stations near Qatar and bridges, tunnels and towers in Dammam and Jeddah.
Thanks to its high standards, AKBMC is an approved supplier used by all government agencies as well as Saudi Aramco, Saudi  Electricity Company, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and Kayan Company.
With quality and customer satisfaction at the heart of its business strategy, AKBMC continues to invest in its human resources.  In order to enhance the capabilities and skills of its workforce, the company is set to launch a new training centre next month, initially to train its own staff in a wide range of fields ranging from operation of equipment and preventative maintenance to awareness of the market and the latest products and techniques in its line of operations.
“We are eventually looking at providing training in effective management,” Al Saleem adds.
AKBMC’s origins can be traced back to 1979 when its first building block – Al Ahsa Readymix Factory – was set up. The outstanding success of this factory inspired the vertical and horizontal expansion of the facility. Subsequently, a production line for various types of blocks was brought on stream at the Al Ahsa factory, following which the company launched a number of crusher units. At the horizontal expansion level, many other factories were set up in various parts in the kingdom such as Hail Readymix and Brick Factory in 1986 and Dammam Readymix and Brick Factory in 1994.
In 1995, Al Kifah Batching Plant Factory was established in joint venture with an English firm, to become the first of its kind in the Middle East. In 1997, the establishment became a 100 per cent Saudi-owned operation producing mobile, portable and static concrete mixing and batching plant and accessories in the Middle East.
With this broad portfolio of factories in operation, the umbrella firm AKBMC was then set up in 2005 as an independent company owned by Al Kifah Holding Company.
Today, AKBMC also encompasses Al Kifah Industrial and Construction Equipment (KICE) – which is the agent of Junjin concrete pumps and Snowkey ice plants and the marketing arm of the company – as well as a transportation company.