Leading precast manufacturer Qanbar Dywidag Precast Concrete (QDC) is optimistic of a great year ahead, given the stronger market conditions that are fuelling the construction sector and the increase in infrastructure-related projects in Saudi Arabia.

“For the past two or three years, the Saudi market has been witnessing tremendous growth and the demand of precast concrete has been on the rise,” says Ahmed Sameh, marketing manager of QDC. “The company has witnessed an increase in sales volumes, with clients appreciating the quality offered by our precast concrete and the benefits and advantages of using the material especially in the construction of showrooms, housing, apartments, hospitals, schools and shopping malls.”
“We have exceeded our targets and have increased our output over the last year in response to an increase in demand in the private sector. The general growth in the public and private sectors besides the expansion plans of Saudi Aramco and Sabic have also contributed for the growth,” he adds.
As a specialised precast concrete manufacturing company, QDC undertakes the design, manufacturing, delivery and installation of precast and prestressed concrete components in accordance to specifications, which are based on international and American – PCI/ACI or BS – standards.
“We are involved in a construction project team as suppliers or subcontractors who produce, deliver and erect precast and prestressed concrete components, taking active part in the construction project under way in the kingdom with our ability to provide value engineering which ensures faster construction, better quality and lower costs,” says Sameh. 
The company boasts a 22 per cent share of the Saudi Arabian domestic market. “Although our main market remains the Eastern Province and the Central Region, we can cater to demand throughout the kingdom. We have also supplied to projects in Abha and Yanbu and other parts of the kingdom as well,” he says.
QDC’s production facility can roll out up to 180,000 cu m of products a year, ranging from normal PCC (precast concrete) elements up to pre-stressed girders and slabs. These are offered in various external finishes including sandblasted, washed aggregate and different formliner finishes. Its production has increased year on year, with QDC having produced 95,000 cu m in 2002, which was increased to 110,000 cu m in 2003 and 160,000 cu m in 2004.
To meet the expected increase in demand over the coming years, QDC is studying the possibility of expanding its precast production facilities and invested on various upgrades and technological developments that will help maintain and improve the high quality standards of our products, Sameh says.
Turning to other plans for the future, he says: “With our long experience in the precast industry we are focusing on a specific geographic region, namely the Western Province, especially Makkah and Madinah, where the construction market is booming with a lot of expansion under way. As one of the leading manufacturers of precast concrete in Saudi Arabia, we believe we are well placed to participate in these projects.”
The company is also looking at introducing several new product lines. “Investing in high technology is part of the company policy and every year we invest on various upgrades, and we are keen on technological developments that can provide our products high quality standards,” he says. “The production of glass reinforced concrete (GRC) as our new product has been planned for the near future.”
QDC has played a very vital role and executed several large and prestigious projects all over the kingdom that range from hospitals, schools, mosques, shopping malls, multistorey car-parks, offices, apartment buildings, showrooms, villas – each bearing witness to the excellence and superiority of the company’s products and showcasing the professionalism and the commitment for quality that the company has towards its clients, says Sameh.
“Our operations and services are highly focused towards bringing about a substantial increase in quality and customer satisfaction,” he adds.
Speaking on the projects on hand, Sameh says: “QDC is close to completing works on Bait Al Umar project villas for Al Suwaidi Real Estate in Al Khobar and Dammam, where the company is supplying and erecting its full building system, which includes columns, beams and hollowcore slabs, for three types of villas.
The company is also nearing completion of works on the Al Ansari Compound in Al Khobar where it has done the full building frame system for 50 villas and four apartment blocks, of high quality finishes. Other similar projects of the company include: The King Faisal University Campus in Hasa and Dammam; 274 villas for a Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) housing compound in Jubail; Al Dabbal Commercial Tower in Dammam; Arabian Drilling Company Complex in Al Khobar, comprising offices and residential units; various industrial facilities for Sabic affiliates; large private housing projects; and shopping malls such as Dammam Mall.
QDC has also recently completed the erection works on the Jubail Beach Resort for Al Zamil Group in Jubail, where it supplied and erected its full building system for 57 two-storey villas and 14 four-storey apartment buildings incorporating attractive architectural features such as arches and decorative cladding.
Some of the projects undertaken by the company include: the Sabic headquarters in Riyadh, Prince Abdullah Military City for Saudi Arabian National Guard (SANG) in Hofuf and luxury bachelors camp in Haradh in the Eastern Province for Saudi Aramco where the company supplied and erected its full-frame building system.
This apart, the company has supplied and erected sandwich claddings panels at the Ghazlan power plant project; created unusual architectural features using cladding panels at the College of Agriculture for the King Faisal University in Hofuf and the Prince Sultan Science and Technology Center in Al Khobar; and supplied the full frame system for the race-day stables and mosque and columns and cladding for the grandstand at the Janadriyah Equestrian Club near Riyadh.
QDC has also supplied its products for several other projects in the Kingdom for clients such as the Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu, Sceco, Sabic,SWCC (Saline Water Conversion Corporation),Aramco and the new King Fahd International Airport, among others.
Established in 1981 as a partnership between Sheikh Abdulrazzak Mohammed Qanbar Al Ansari – a leading businessman in the Eastern Province – and one of the largest West German general contractors and precast concrete manufacturer Dycherhoff and Widmann AG (Dywidag), Qanbar Dywidag has grown over the years to become one of the leading precast manufacturers in the kingdom. Three years ago, the company became a sole ownership with Sheikh Abdulrazzak Mohammed Qanbar Al Ansari buying out the entire share of Dywidag. The German partner remains for technical support.
Based in the kingdom’s Al Jubail Industrial City, QDC’s sales network includes offices in Jubail, Dammam and Riyadh.  The ISO 9001-2000 certified company boasts a 1,500-strong workforce  functioning at its factory and various sites.
The company provides a comprehensive range of products, offering basically a one-stop-shop for all precast and prestressed concrete requirement, right from normal precast concrete elements, standard products such as paving and interlocks tiles, manholes, seating, external claddings panels, hollowcore slabs, double tee slabs, and precast domes, prestressed long spans girders, wall frame, beams and columns frame and boundary walls.
“We can safely say that the future of construction business in Saudi Arabia lies in the precast construction, which offers a number of benefits. Since they are produced under strict factory-controlled quality conditions, the quality of precast components can always be assured. They are easy to maintain and come in a wide range of finishes. In addition, they speed up construction and allow early occupation of projects, thereby offering early return of investments,” Sameh concludes.