Canam Asia Limited (CAL) reports a 100 per cent sales increase in the past year as a prelude to two new factories being commissioned in the UAE and Vietnam and new sales offices opening in Abu Dhabi and Doha, in addition to its current fully-staffed sales offices in Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah and Dubai.

The Saudi-based firm is a manufacturer and supplier of steel construction products, notably open-web steel joists, roof trusses and composite steel decks, as well as Hambro composite floor joists system, according to CAL general manager Fouad Kassabaki.
In addition to the 30 regular-sized projects executed last year, CAL successfully completed four major projects in the kingdom over the past year totalling 5,000 tonnes, with at least another six in progress and scheduled for completion by the year-end, with a total weight of 7,100 tonnes.
“Our past performance and prompt services on these prestigious jobs have given our customer the confidence to continue awarding us their large and complicated projects,” adds Kassabaki.
Last December, in response to the market’s high demand of over-sized steel trusses and special shapes structures, the company installed a new production line which has helped it secure projects with high complexity such as the Jeddah Rosham mall (which has just been completed) as well as aircraft hangars at the Thumrait air-base in Oman and Dubai Festival City – all of which are now under construction.
In view of the increased demand for its products, CAL – which has a production capacity of 1,100 tonnes per month (tpm) at its Dammam facility – has easily managed to absorb a 40 per cent increase in production this year from 500 tpm to 700 tpm.
 “Although the Dammam-based venture is relatively new, our experience in the product dates back to 30 year ago in North America and Europe,” says Kassabaki.
“Our products are manufactured to consistent quality in our plants and are offered at a competitive price,” he says. “We perform our work meticulously to ensure that every component we manufacture in each of our plants meets the highest quality standards. Our engineers are continuously seeking new technologies to provide better products at the lowest possible cost.”
CAL joists are custom-built structural elements used to support the floors and roof of a building. Using a steel joist and steel deck system for floor and roof construction has proven to be an effective solution for durable and cost-efficient construction, he adds.
The company has established strict quality standards. Its quality assurance technicians and inspectors are certified by the Canadian Welding Bureau and the American Welding Society.
Canam is a fully-accredited member of the Steel Joist Institute (SJI) and can provide the full range of SJI products; however, CAL can design and fabricate steel trusses for a variety of special needs beyond the scope and range of SJI specifications, in addition to joists or girders at depths or spans outside of SJI load tables, says Kassabaki.
CAL uses state-of-the-art software for the design of its products, and can accommodate many special design requirements; including point loads, moving loads, snow drifts, end moments and axial loads, and slopes.
 The company is committed to providing a high-quality product that exceeds both the SJI and project requirements. Its raw materials Saudi Arabia, Japan and Korea meet exacting standards, and all of its work is rigorously inspected before it leaves the plant.
As a leader in the joist industry, Canam has hundreds of thousands of steel joists in service supporting the floor and roofs of schools, factories, warehouses, stores and countless other structures worldwide.
CAL steel decks are available in various thicknesses, rib heights and several zinc protection finishes. A gray polyester paint finish without underlying zinc protection is also available. The company can provide a white finish with an underlying zinc protection or other types of material, upon request. Deck profiles are available with embossments to act compositely with a concrete slab. CAL steel decks are based on load tables by the American Iron and Steel Institute specifications for the design of cold-formed steel structural members and the recommendations of the Steel Deck Institute.
“Dubai airport was a major consumer for our decking panels in 2005,” says Kassabaki.
 CAL’s D500 trademark composite floor joist system is an advanced up-to-date solution to elevated floor construction challenges, he says. Combining Hambro steel joists with poured concrete, the system consists of hybrid concrete/steel T-beams running in one direction and an integrated continuous slab in the other.
Elaborating on the system, he says: “The bottom chord acts as a tension member in the concreting stage and during the service life of the floor. The web system tying top and bottom chords together consist of bent rods and resists vertical shear in a conventional truss manner.
“The patented 13-gauge top chord acts as a compression member during the non-composite stage. In the composite stage, the top chord is embedded in the concrete and functions as a continuous shear connector. The concrete slab is reinforced with welded wire mesh.
“The top chord functions as a high chair, developing negative moment capacity in the concrete slab, which behaves as a continuous one-way reinforced slab.”
Kassabaki says since manufacturing its first joist, the firm has never stopped the innovation process. “This applies equally to our product line, our manufacturing processes and support equipment,” he continues. “Our ultimate objective is to manufacture higher quality products more quickly and at lower cost while satisfying the needs of the industry.”
CAL is continuously looking for new ways and new technology to reduce the response time from the submission of its bids to the delivery of its products. This enables the company to improve services constantly while maintaining competitive prices.
The company is a joint venture between Zamil Industrial Investment Company (ZIIC) of Saudi Arabia and Steel Plus Limited, an affiliate of the Canadian Canam Group (CG), with an annual production capacity of 13,000 tonnes.
This joint venture couples the expertise of ZIIC in the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa with the reputation of CG as a company renowned to be one of the leading manufacturers of steel joists and structural steel components in North America and Europe. The parent company has 27 offices and 60 factories worldwide.
CAL’s state-of-the-art facility in Dammam’s First Industrial Area began production in November 2002. The company, which is ISO-certified and has design capabilities, procures its raw materials from Saudi Arabia, Japan, Korea. Its main markets include the Middle East, Europe, Asia and Africa.