Saudi Vitrified Clay Pipe (SVCP) – a leading Saudi-German-Belgian manufacturer of vitrified clay pipes, which has recently completed the successful expansion of its capacity from 45,000 tonnes per year (tpy) to 100,000 tpy – is confident of continuing the strong performance the company has recorded in recent years.

“It has been a very busy year for us and the market is expected to continue improving in the short term,” says Mahmoud Abu Jebara, sales manager.
“The domestic market has developed significantly in the recent past and the trend is expected to continue increasing at the rate of five to 10 per cent per annum for the next five years,” he observes.
SVCP designs, produces and sells vitrified clay pipes to contractors, providing a quality product and offering design services and static calculations for the network upon request, free of charge, as part of its responsibility to ensure good, economic and long-lasting sewer networks.
The company, which holds a strong belief that a sewer network is never permanent unless it is clay, serves the clay pipe market in the Gulf and also exports to international markets from Taiwan in southeast Asia to Spain in Europe.
The company has been quick to grab an opportunity for growth when it came by. “In 2000, the Saudi market witnessed a surge in activity in the drainage sector and SVCP exerted all efforts to ensure that it offered its best in its home market. Since then, we have become involved directly in supplying a huge quantity of pipes to the largest projects in the kingdom,” he says.
It has also provided sewer pipes for some of the major projects in the kingdom including the supply of 1,438 km of pipes in Makkah. SVCP is also supplying 214 km of pipes to projects in Madinah; 2,471.5 km of pipes to Riyadh; 129.7 km of pipes to Jeddah and 737.5 km of pipes in Qassim.
Established in Riyadh in 1977 to produce vitrified clay pipes with an annual capacity of 24,000 tonnes, the company saw its first expansion in 1984, which enhanced its capacity to 45,000 tpy. In the same year, the company also expanded the range of diameters to up to DN 600 for pipes and fittings.
A couple of years later, it continued to increase the range of diameters, starting with DN 700 up to DN 1200 and enhanced its annual production in the same period to 50,000 tonnes.
In 2002, SVCP set up a special rotary kiln to produce 30,000 tpy of schamotte – an essential ingredient in the production of clay pipes. The following year the company finally completed its biggest expansion ever to date, doubling its production capacity to 100,000 tonnes.
“Given our new capacity, we are now determined to maintain a foothold on our export markets, which are expected to absorb at least 30 per cent of our output,” says Jebara.
The company works through a network of qualified agents/distributors all over the world to ensure best service and immediate response to the daily needs of the markets, he adds.
Currently, SVCP has more than 350 employees on its rolls and enjoys an annual turnover of more than $48 million. The company has engaged the services of engineers in the sales department to follow up its sales activities and services in the Saudi as well as international markets.
“This team of professionals provides immediate advice, solutions and necessary back-up for any unforeseen needs of the projects,” he says.
“The company, which aims to offer enhanced customer services, accepts the return of any surplus quantities at the end of the project. It also accepts changes in sizes, quantities and delivery schedules, without additional charges as part of its value-added services.
“In addition, we have also initiated measures to minimise costs for the contractor including the immediate delivery of products within hours all over the kingdom,” he adds.