Business was good for Binex in 2001 with the Saudi trader setting sales records for several of its building materials.

"Our activity in 2001 resulted in a record sale of gypsum boards, steel profiles for curtain-walling, partitions, suspended false ceilings, plasterer and drywall beads," says a spokesperson for Binex. "We sold large volumes of silica fume and special admixtures for concrete. We increased our turnover of geotextile filter fabrics for irrigation and soil control by 30 per cent and met the increased demands for epoxy, polymerised and cement-based tile and stone fixings and grouts."

Established in 1981 with its corporate head office in Al Khobar, The International Company for Building Materials Limited, more popularly known as Binex, is a part of the Bina Group of companies.

Binex stocks and sells what it terms as 'a complete building package from start to finish', a slogan exclusively used by the company for several years. The company has select lines of building materials categorised under four groups - construction chemicals, water services and plumbing products, building finishes, and civil works products - and is represented by the symbol of a jaguar, to emphasise its attributes of strength, efficiency, reliability and speed of service.

The company operates through three regional branches in Jeddah, Riyadh and Al Khobar. Under these regional branches are warehouses and showrooms in strategic locations in the city and outlying areas to service the requirements of customers' projects.

Binex draws on the resources of its trained and efficient sales personnel and technical professionals to provide solutions to the needs of contractors and project owners from bidding to completion.

It works with local manufacturers such as National Gypsum Company, Arabian Fiberglass Company (Afico) and USG Middle East. Rollform products for Binex are manufactured by its sister company, Saudi Scaffolding Factory, while many of its construction chemical products are manufactured by another sister company in the Bina Group, The International Company for Chemicals, better known for its Binachem brand.

Well-known brands from Europe and the US are represented such as Laticrete for tile and stone fixings, Jay R Smith for engineered plumbing and drainage products, George Fischer for flame-retardant and chemical-resistant pipes and fittings, Mueller Brass for copper pipes and fittings and Catnic for steel lintels. It also markets the Yuko brand of drywall screws from Japan, which according to the spokesman, is a much sought-after product.

"We do not carry out construction work ourselves as this conflicts with the interest of our clients. We consider ourselves the working partners of architects, engineers, project managers, owners, contractors and specialised sub-contractors in their projects kingdomwide," says the spokesperson. "We have supplied materials to prestigious projects such as the Al-Faisaliah Center, the Kingdom Centre, Kingdom Medical Centre, Aramco schools, the Ghazlan power plant and PP8 and PP9 power plants. Some of these projects are still ongoing and we remain committed to serving the requirements for timely completion."

Binex is an approved vendor of Aramco, Sabic Services Limited (SSL), Sceco and other bodies. The company also works with renowned contractors such as Joannou & Paraskevaides (J&P), El Seif Engineering, Saudi Constructioneers, Saudi Oger, Al Mojil Group, Saad Trading and Contracting, Al-Muhana Contracting, CCC, Saudi Binladin and ABV Rock, to name a few.

"We carry out interesting jobs for our clients every day in the areas of product identification from specification narratives, providing suggestions and techniques or outright solutions for problematic installations," he explains. "Our services are made available for quantity estimation and demonstration of product application on site. We are always happy to show our clients the competence we have developed through the years of handling our varied product lines."

The spokesman says that 2001 was a very good year for Binex considering the general slackness of the construction sector and the economic recession in the fourth quarter. "We attribute this to the wide and diverse product lines in our range, the strength and reputation of our brands, the enthusiasm of our sales force and the sheer determination of our sales support teams," he says.

Binex is always on the lookout for new additions that will complement its existing product lines and are within the scope of its overall technical competence to promote and sell. "At many a time, we reject offers from manufacturers exploring the possibility of our handling their products due to our philosophy of being focused in areas of our strength and competence," says the spokesperson.

He continues: "Our approach is practical. We work hard to protect the territory and look for ways to increase our share of the market and are always on the lookout for new opportunities for our products. This has carried us through 2001 and we are truly confident that the same strategy will work for us in the current year.

"There was more activity in the Western and Central regions in the past two years but large-scale industrial and residential construction have started in the Eastern region since the latter part of last year. This looks very promising for us and we intend to make the most of this opportunity."