Following a restructuring of the company early this year, Al Manaratain – Bahrain’s largest producer of construction blocks – is poised to expand into Saudi Arabia soon, with the setting up of a new plant for concrete blocks and precast slabs.

The new plant, being built in the Second Industrial area of Dammam, will have a production capacity of 43,000 blocks and 500 sq m of precast concrete slabs per day and is due to go on stream by the end of this year.
Al Manaratain, which was a sole ownership, has changed into a limited liability company and renamed itself to Al Manaratain Company and Ali Al Shaab Group.
“With three automated plants producing a large variety of concrete blocks, readymix concrete, Bradstone pavers, precast slabs and T-beam flooring, we are a dynamic future-oriented company with willingness to develop into any field within the concrete industry,' says Misan Ali Al Khamiri, managing director.
The company’s diverse variety of concrete blocks includes:
• Hollow blocks, available in different strengths and sizes;
• Insulation block, a masonry block, which has expanded polystyrene inside to provide excellent thermal insulation;
• Decorative blocks, having many advantages over normal blocks, such as being economical, attractive, maintenance-free with no requirement for plastering and painting as they available in a wide range of colours as well as finishes – split, fluted and ribbed;
• Lightweight blocks, which are manufactured with imported lightweight, expanded clay aggregates. These blocks provide the optimal combination of lightweight, strength, thermal and acoustic insulation, high fire resistance and life expectancy. Their lightweight means easier handling and low fixing cost, the spokesman points
Al Manaratain offers pavers in a variety of colours as well as the following shapes: Uni paving, Uni decor, cobble stone, rectangular, 3D, Quadro, Sheafer and fan-type paving, as well as paving slabs.

Bradstone
“This high quality material is highly economical and an environmental alternative to natural stone since it has the feel and appearance of traditional stone, with the advantages of high performance and being long-lasting and having low maintenance requirements.
Each range is carefully designed to keep detailing and construction simple and straightforward as possible to save time and money on construction sites. Bradstone guarantees a finished project which will have an authentic hand-crafted appearance and is available in varied colour choices of yellow, grey, white, black, red, sandy, buttermilk, weathered colours and many more,' says the company spokesperson.
Al Manaratain's Bradstones can be used for be used for paving, edging and walling purposes and the range includes:
• Paving – Riven, Corinium, Fellside, Old Town Paving;
• Edging – Stone, chamfered brick and brick edging; and
• Walling – Hadrian, Cots Wall and wall tiles.
The company was established in 1959 as a small block factory and crusher plant by Ali Yousif Hassan Al Khamiri. In 1962 the factory was named the Ali A1 Shaab factory while the company was given the name of Al Manaratain (meaning two minarets). At the same time, the capacity of the crusher plant was expanded and the block factory became semi-automated. While the 1960s saw a growth in the company’s market share, the 1980s became a period when Al Manaratain expanded with a washing plant and added fully automated production lines, a precast slab and T-beam factory as well as a quality control department and modern laboratory.
In 1986 an agreement was signed with Bradley's (UK) to manufacture Bradstone reconstituted stone.
In 1994, the company introduced ready-mix concrete and pre-cast flooring system to the market, thereby completing the ‘in-house’ product range.
The company motto is “customer satisfaction through quality excellence and in keeping with this motto, Al Manaratain attained the ISO 9001: 2000 quality certification for the production of concrete blocks, interlocking paving, reconstituted stone, precast concrete, readymix concrete, sand washing and crusher plants.
A year later, to meet the rising demand in the region, the company installed an additional automatic paving block-manufacturing machine.
Recognising the importance of a good IT network in today’s business environment, Al Manaratain has expanded its network and introduced online data connectivity between its factories, sales outlets and the head office, thus fully computerising its operations to ensure efficiency in services to sales and customers.