Leading Saudi Arabia-headquartered manufacturer of pipes Amiantit has recently clinched some major orders in the Gulf once again consolidating its position as a regional leader in the pipes sector.

Last April, three Amiantit manufacturing facilities in Saudi Arabia: Amiantit Fiberglass Industries Limited (Afil) in Dammam, FPC in Dammam and Amitech in Jeddah, completed exports to 13 countries.
“While Saudi Arabia remains our biggest single market, export orders are becoming more and more substantial and their combined volume adds up to an increasingly important part of our business,” says president and CEO Fareed Al Khalawi. 
The export orders were among the $114 million worth of business secured during the first quarter of this year and included the supply of various types of glass-fibre reinforced polyester (GRP) pipes of various diameters for infrastructure projects in Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan, Oman, Yemen, Libya, India and Iran.
“These orders show global confidence in the reliability of Amiantit products and technologies, all of which are supported by certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, UL, FM, NSF, and many others, ensuring that production conforms to the highest international standards,” Al Khalawi adds.
Among the largest recent orders from its domestic market came from the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, which placed an order worth $40 million for the huge 4-m diameter GRP pipes, which is the world’s largest and manufactured by Afil Dammam.
Projects from other GCC countries included two orders for pipes for desalination plants, a road construction project, and Al Khiran New Town infrastructure project in Kuwait; orders for pipes worth $13 million for Sohar desalination plant, and projects in the Ibra, Al Qabil, Bidiyah and Fanjah areas.
Besides projects in the Gulf, Afil Dammam has supplied the Iran Marine Industrial Company (Sadra) with SR48.75 million ($13 million) worth of pipes and fittings. Sadra is one of Iran’s biggest offshore contracting companies and has the contract to provide utility services to the Assuluya based petrochemical industries. The project will supply seawater for cooling which is transported through an open channel to a pumping station and then through a 12 km network of GRP pipes to the industrial complex.
“Steel pipes were originally specified but following a detailed technical scrutiny and evaluation worldwide, GRP was selected and Afil was awarded the design, review, engineering, supply and supervision of the piping network,” says a spokesman for Amiantit.
Another Amiantit manufacturing facility, Amiantit Fiberglass Industries India Limited, is currently servicing an order for GRP underground storage tanks from Reliance Industries, India’s largest private sector refinery and petrochemical company. Reliance has a programme to establish nearly 5,800 retail outlets over a five-year period. Between January 2004 – when the Afil plant in Goa, India was commissioned – and March this year, Amiantit India supplied some 2,000 GRP tanks in configurations of 20, 40 and 70 kilolitres.
“Recently, when Reliance had a sudden requirement for more tanks to be delivered within a short time frame, they ordered an additional 2,000 GRP tanks. The total contract is worth SR37.5 out of which more than SR28 million worth of tanks is for delivery during 2005,” he adds.
GRP products are manufactured using Amiantit-owned Flowtite technology and are lightweight, strong, durable and corrosion resistant – therefore eliminating leaks and failures – and there is no need for periodic corrosion survey and cathodic protection as is required for steel pipes and tanks.  They are also cost effective due to easy installation and minimal maintenance. 
Amiantit licenses the Flowtite process to joint venture projects and other manufacturers throughout the world, while in Saudi Arabia Afil is the main GRP production plant.
Flowtite pipes and fittings are used globally in pressure/gravity systems, for raw water pumping mains, drinking water supply pipelines, sewerage force mains, pipelines in waste water treatment plants, sliplining/re-lining for rehabilitation of networks, pipelines in desalination plants, pipelines in penstocks and power plants, fire hydrant lines, sub-aqueous applications, and many industrial applications.

GRE pipes
Meanwhile, Composite Pipes Industry (CPI) Oman – a member company of the Amiantit Group – was recently awarded two contracts by Petrol Development Oman (PDO) for a total of 101 km of glass reinforced epoxy (GRE) pipes worth more than $11 million, says Al Khalawi.
The first order, valued at $5 million and already completed, was for 53 km of 16-inch diameter crude oil transmission line from Lekhware to Dulaima in northern Oman. The second order was for 48 km of 18-inch pipeline and worth $6.1 million was subcontracted from Galfar Engin-eering and Construction – the successful bidder for the contract to construct a pipeline to transport crude oil from Yibal to Al Huwaisa in Oman. CPI will design, test, manufacture and supply the GRE pipes, and also supervise installation of the entire 24 km by 2 pipeline.
GRE pipes meet the energy sector’s demand for corrosion-free piping systems and are used by the oil, gas and petrochemical industries. Amiantit operates four full-scale GRE production plants in the GCC, including the Amiantit Epoxy Pipe Production Plant (Amipox) in Dammam.
Opened last year  at a cost of SR30 million, Amipox is a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility producing high-performance GRE pipes.  Its products are manufactured using Amiantit’s exclusive Amipox technology and serve a variety of markets including industrial, oilfield, chemical, offshore, and marine. GRE pipes are lightweight, easy to transport, easy to install, and are extremely resistant to corrosion.
Founded in Dammam in 1968, Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company has played a leading role in the construction of the national and municipal water supply and sewage networks of Saudi Arabia and its neighbours in the GCC.
In addition, by establishing production plants in the kingdom, Amiantit has played an important part in the advancement of regional industrial development while, at the same time, making a significant contribution to the Saudi economy by reducing dependency on imports and becoming a major exporter. 
Today, Amiantit Group is the world’s biggest manufacturer of fibreglass pipes with 33 factories in 15 countries with a group sales turnover exceeding $400 million and is the industry’s leader in research, development and ownership of advanced pipe manufacturing technologies.
Besides being the largest manufacturer of GRP pipes and storage tanks in the world, it is also a leading manufacturer of epoxy pipes, ductile iron pipes, concrete cylinder pipes, pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes, reinforced concrete pipes, cement mortar lining of steel pipes, polymer concrete pipes and thermoplastic pipes, the spokesman concludes.