A NEW PRECAST factory manufacturing a full range of products in Qatar has been commissioned, according to one of the facility’s partners.

Called the Qatar International Precast Company (QIP), the factory is now ready to serve major industrial, government and private sector projects in the rapidly growing country.

Saud Al Ansari, chief executive officer of Saudi Arabia’s Alansari Holding Company – an equal joint venture partner in QIP along with Qatar International Trading Company (QIT) – says the plant has an initial manufacturing capacity of 60,000 cu m per year of precast concrete, which is subject to increase.

The QIP plant, located at Al Mesaieed Industrial City, was built in technical partnership with Saudi Arabia-based precast concrete specialist Qanbar Dywidag Precast Concrete Company Limited (QDC), itself an Alansari Holding Company subsidiary and the most respected and well-established precast concrete manufacturer in the kingdom.

Al Ansari says the QIP facility is unique because it will be the first in Qatar to produce full-frame precast structures, including beams, columns, prestressed hollowcore slabs, prestressed double-tee slabs, all types of wall systems (external solid and insulated cladding, load-bearing/non-load-bearing external insulated walls and internal load-bearing/non-load-bearing solid walls), as well as full-frame precast structures and elements required for infrastructure such as manholes, ducts, tunnel lining segments and pipeline racks.

Al Ansari ... ‘great potential’.

“By using QIP’s full-frame precast structures, contractors need only to cast the foundations. This is the first time that such precast structures are available in Qatar, a market which we have identified as showing great potential,” Al Ansari explains. “As we learn more about the local market and its precast requirements, through QIT, we will deliver products with flexible designs.

“QIP brings a whole new dimension and capability to the Qatari market,” he adds.

The QIP plant will have the flexibility to rapidly ramp up production capacity beyond 60,000 cu m per year according to market demand, giving it the vital ability to react quickly to clients’ requirements.

Through QDC, Alansari Holding Company has served the Saudi Arabian precast market – the Gulf’s biggest and most mature – strongly for more than 30 years. Al Ansari says Qatar was the logical next step as it expands its business ambitions in the region.

“Our prime objective is to draw upon our expertise and experience in Saudi Arabia to establish a track record in Qatar. Qatar has great growth potential, which we identified and have acted upon by setting up QIP with our local joint venture partner. We feel now is an ideal and exciting time to enter Qatar. As it gears up to host the football World Cup in 2022, we expect many large infrastructure projects to be awarded, which will require specialist precast structures,” he explains.

“To fully leverage local opportunities, we chose a local partner (QIT) which is well established since 1991 and is considered one of the most sound business conglomerates in Qatar, with unrivalled local market knowledge. Furthermore, through a policy of knowledge transfer, the QIP joint venture has been able to leverage QDC’s world-class technical expertise and long-standing experience to maximise its quality standards and production capabilities,” Al Ansari emphasises.

Al Ansari says QIP will also replicate QDC’s commitment to the highest quality standards. “QIP precast will comply with all international standards and codes, while project execution will be in full accordance with international best practice,” he points out.

The QIP facility will be staffed by qualified and experienced staff seconded from QDC in Saudi Arabia, further ensuring the seamless transfer of expertise from one of the longest-established precast companies in the Gulf. Furthermore, the new facility will be backed up by QDC’s engineering department in Saudi Arabia, which is known for its capabilities in providing speciality designs for sophisticated and challenging projects.

Al Ansari says the QIP plant has already secured several customers in Qatar, thanks to pre-commissioning marketing efforts by both joint venture partners. Going forward, QIP is targeting diverse projects including but not limited to: major infrastructure projects; government projects (for example, commercial buildings and mass housing projects), blast-resistant structures for industrial projects including oil and gas installations and power stations (electricity substations), as well as semi-governmental and private sector projects.

In serving its local customers, QIP will also continue to draw upon its unique links with QDC, which over three decades has served prestigious clients in Saudi Arabia including the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu, Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), Saudi Consolidated Electric Company (Sceco), ministries, as well as private sector projects such as hospitals, schools, factories, warehouses, showrooms, multi-storey offices, apartment buildings, single and multi-storey car-parks, villas, shopping centres, mosques, supermarkets, boundary walls and pavements.

Alansari Holding Company has been operating in the Gulf region for more than 65 years. The company is privately owned by Abdulrazzak Mohammed Qanbar Al Ansari and Sons. Major group ventures include construction-related activities, manufacturing industries, trading services and real estate investment and development.

In addition to QIP, Alansari Holding has developed over the years a solid network of strategic partnerships in various regional projects, and has a sound record of diversified investments in several prestigious firms.

QDC was formed in 1981 as a partnership between one of the leading business conglomerates in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Alansari Holding (Abdulrazzak M Qanbar Al Ansari and Sons) and one of the largest German general contractors and precast concrete manufacturers Dyckerhoff & Widmann (Dywidag). In January 2002 Alansari Holding became the sole owner of QDC and Dywidag remains a technical partner to this day.