SAUDI ARABIA has been an important export market for Steelfields ever since its first Major 60 concrete batching plant was successfully commissioned in Dammam in 1975.

The current construction boom in Saudi Arabia has mirrored the concrete batching plant manufacturer’s own success in the region. The company has now strengthened its marketing presence in the country with the establishment of a local contact agency in Riyadh, together with a manufacturing partnership to fabricate cement silos and larger plant components for local customers.

Original sales were based on the Steelfields’ Major 60 plant series with valued support from Saudi Readymix – a Dammam-based pioneer in the production of readymix concrete – to establish a strong foothold into Saudi Arabia.

“With the need for ever larger output capacities and material storage options, recent installations has been for the new SM 60 concrete plant alongside the Major 2000 horizontal plant series and Major 3000 modular plant,” says Prentis Polhill, sales director.

Steelfields has also supplied its mixers and specialist components to several local fabricators, who have been asked to upgrade existing concrete plants. The Steelfields mixer range includes high-speed turbo pan mixers, twin-shaft paddle mixers and planetary mixers for intensive and specialist mix designs.

Major 3000 ... in demand.

“With approximately 60 units placed throughout the region, the demand for a first-class back-up service has been ever important,” Polhill continues. “Steelfields service staff maintains close contact with all customers with spares orders a top priority. In addition, Steelfields’ technical and sales representatives frequently travel across the kingdom to continue training local staff members.”

Steelfields’ range of concrete plant includes the containerised Major 2000, modular Major 3000, the mobile Major 60, semi-mobile SM 60, together with larger Major 90 and ‘custom-built’ specials. In addition, it offers an extensive range of concrete mixers, control systems, wet concrete processing system, grey water processing systems, concrete plant spares, batch control systems, moisture probes, and the ‘Air-Blast’ system for temperature-controlled concrete in high ambient conditions.

Its range of concrete mixers includes ‘SF’ turbo pan mixers, ‘SFP’ counter-flow mixers, PMS single-shaft ribbon mixers and the PM twin-shaft paddle mixers as well as larger tilting/horizontal drum mixers. The entire range of mixers starts with pan capacities of 250 litres up to the largest 12 cu yard drum.

The company had recently expanded its product portfolio with new products such as the Eurostar planetary mixers (300 litres up to 3 cu m); Bibko concrete reclaim system (RWS and ComTec units); spare parts for Pemat mixers; polyurethane wear-resistant products (sheet and moulded items); and ExSep water clarification systems.

Over the recent past, Steelfields has successfully completed projects which entailed the supply of two SM 60 concrete plants for Premco Readymix (Abu Dhabi); and two Major 2000S concrete plants for the London 2012 Olympic Games. It also received two orders for the supply of its successful SM 60 range of semi-mobile/compact plant to the Saudi Binladin Group in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The plants were dispatched from the factory in the UK and were assembled by local staff under close supervision from a factory technician.

Steelfields’ range of concrete plant includes custom-built specials.

“Each plant is fitted with a six-compartment aggregate storage bin, radial feed conveyor, ground loading hopper and a 3-cu-m high-speed ‘turbo’ pan mixer with two truck-mixer loading points. A total of 1,600 tonnes of cement storage is available for both the plants.

The silos were supplied and fabricated by the company’s Saudi partner, utilising UK-sourced components for dust control and aeration,” says Polhill.

Both plants and silos comply with all relevant UK and European legislation, including the provision of guarding, safety interlock systems and correct access provisions to meet statutory regulations, he adds.

Steelfields, which registers a turnover of $7.4 million, operates from its purpose-built factory on a 2.6-hectare site in southeast England, with strong exports to the Middle East since the early 1970s. Today, its concrete plants are used by many of the leading readymix producers in Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Steelfields was established as a family company in 1956 and has grown to become the UK’s leading manufacturer and exporter of concrete batching plant with over 1,800 successful installations operating in more than 55 countries. Its workshop covers 6,000 sq m on a 25,400 sq m plot. It employs 65 people.