SAUDI ARABIA'S Al Jazirah Development Factory for Concrete Products Company, which launched operations earlier this year, is planning to spread its wings across the Gulf.

Built at a cost of $120 million and based in Riyadh, the new factory launched commercial operations in January and expects annual turnover to hit $20 million in its first year, according to engineer Hesham Wally.

Currently catering to the domestic market, Al Jazirah has set its sights on exporting 25 per cent of its production to markets across the Gulf, particularly Oman and Qatar, he says.

Al Jazirah’s products are used for sewerage and storm drainage networks and the company is currently supplying reinforced concrete box culverts for storm water network in Riyadh being built by Al Sayegh for Trading and Contracting Company, under a deal worth SR6 million ($1.59 million).   

The company has also launched new lines for producing jacking pipes and box culvert and some precast elements. “We have added 2,000-mm-diameter manholes, jacking pipes, circular manholes of 1,500-mm diameter, and box culverts in sizes ranging from 1,400 by 1,400 mm to 3,000 by 2,000 mm,” he says.

Part of the Al Jazirah Development for Contracting Company, the company’s products includes reinforced concrete pipes for open cut projects (from 300-mm to 3,600-mm inner diameter), reinforced concrete jacking pipes for tunnel projects (600-mm to 3,600-mm inner diameter), reinforced concrete manholes for storm drainage and sewage projects (from 600-mm to 2,500-mm inner diameter.

All products can be manufactured with or without PVC (polyvinyl chloride), HDPE (high-density polyethylene) or GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) liners.

The company, which sources its raw materials locally, also produces bell and spigot pipes in the 300-mm to 1,000-mm-diameter range, tongue and groove pipes from 1,200 mm to 2,500 mm in diameter, and circular manholes from 1,200 to 2,000 mm in diameter.

The plant has a capacity to manufacture 150 km of pipes and 15,000 manholes a year, using around 300,000 tonnes of concrete in the process.

Certified to  ISO 9001:2008, Al Jazirah Development Factory for Concrete Products Company manufactures to Saudi (Saso), American (ASTM) and British (BS) specifications.

The company has a total staff of 150, including highly qualified technicians and its factory an stockyard is located in Al Ojaimy Industrial Area.