Bermuda-headquartered PVaxx Industries made two significant announcements early last month, which will boost the position of the manufacturer of shipping pallets further in the region.
Coinciding with the company’s decision to set up a manufacturing facility at Sohar Port, it has concluded Letters of Intent (LoI) worth $300 million with regional and international shipping pallet buyers including those from Saudi Arabia and Northern Europe.
The recent agreement with Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC) states that PVaxx will build, own and operate a manufacturing facility in the Port of Sohar. It has also signed a lump sum turnkey contract with Inma, a subsidiary of Saudconsult, the oldest civil engineering company in Saudi Arabia, for the project’s development.
According to the agreement, Inma will take charge of the planning and construction of the Sohar facility.
The Sohar manufacturing facility will be capable of producing 150 million Siluma shipping pallets per year in its initial phase of output. Siluma pallets are recyclable, cheaper and more durable than many alternative pallets and have been designed to allow customers to replace traditional wooden pallets in order to achieve greater cost efficiencies whilst simultaneously reducing the burden on the global environment, says a company spokesman.
The Sohar plant is scheduled to commence production of pallets in the second half of 2005 and PVaxx has already made significant strides in the sourcing of raw materials for the facility having also recently concluded supply contracts for polyethylene and sand, major components in the production of PVaxx Siluma pallets in anticipation of the timely conclusion of development and construction plans of its Sohar facility.
Through its regional office in Manama, PVaxx had initially intended to establish its first GCC facility in Bahrain. However, after undertaking advanced feasibility studies, final design specifications and site approvals, Sohar was selected as the first location. PVaxx will continue to evaluate further opportunities for expansion in the region.
