Dammam-based Canam Asia Limited (CAL), which claims to be the only company in Saudi Arabia to custom design, produce and supply open-web steel joists, has seen its capacity surge by 120 per cent and sales by 20 per cent, thanks to its new factory, aggressive marketing campaigns and a surge in demand.

The company is now looking to further boost its presence and sales in the regional and foreign markets with its innovative range of open web steel joists, roof trusses, steel decks and Hambro joists. Its joists are custom-built structural elements used to support the floors and roof of buildings that include schools, factories, warehouses, stores, shopping malls, high-rise multi-storey towers and other such structures worldwide.
A joint venture between Saudi Arabia-based Zamil Industrial Investment Company (ZIIC) and Steel Plus, an affiliate of the Canadian Canam Group (CG), CAL is renowned for its expertise in the marketing, design and manufacture of high-quality steel products for the construction industry. CAL currently enjoys an annual turnover of $24 million in the region, with a target to double this figure by 2009.
With an industrial licence for the manufacturing of steel joists, Canam Asia has coupled 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. Canam Group has 27 offices and 60 factories worldwide. It has recently set up a factory in Vietnam.
 “Although we were established in Saudi Arabia a little over four years ago in 2003 in the first Industrial City at Dammam, our experience in the products and technical expertise date back to 30 years ago in North America and Europe,” says Fouad Kassabaki, general manager of CAL.
“In response to high market demand and market forecasts, we have completed and commissioned our second factory, located the UAE, and installed a new production line for special joists and metal decking, which has boosted our current production capacity to 2,000 tonnes, up from 800 tonnes, a 120 per cent increase over last year. Our regional and export sales have also increased by 20 per cent during 2006, thanks to an aggressive marketing campaign,” says Kassabaki.
Equipped with an increased capacity, the company has recently set up new sales offices in Kuwait to capture a slice of the growing market there and intends to establish other area offices in the Middle East and Northern Africa by late 2007.
Over the past few years, the company has continued to invest significantly to acquire the best available equipment, tools and software in the industry, which includes computer-aided manufacturing and numerically-controlled machinery, to manufacture its steel deck products. It also has an automated roll former for steel decks.
“We provide a range of services that include project design, bid preparation or component manufacturing with an experienced team of sales representatives, engineers, technicians and draftsmen who can suggest efficient and economical solutions,” Kassabaki points out.
“Canam Asia’s competitive edge has been its ability to deliver in record time of as early as four weeks from returned approval drawings date for steel joists and one week for metal decking, regardless of the clients’ location as we realise that on-site erection crew cannot afford to wait. The company delivers its products with the help of a fleet of trucks and semi-trailers that travel to customer sites across the region and round the clock,” he adds.
The company has exceptional design capabilities and procures materials from reputable rolling mills in Saudi Arabia, Japan and Korea. While supplying the Saudi market, Canam Asia also caters to the growing demands from other countries in the Gulf and West Asia. Among its prestigious projects are the airports in Dubai and Qatar, for which it supplied steel decks, and a mega warehouse project in Rabigh, and five 22-storey residential towers in Makkah, both in Saudi Arabia.
Elaborating on Canam Asia’s products, he says: “Our steel deck sheets, used for roofs and floors, provide support for gravity loads between the joists or beams. Once installed, these sheets can also be used as a horizontal brace, where the steel deck works as a diaphragm. The fluted deck is the equivalent of a beam web with the flanges usually formed by the perimeter structural members. Secondary elements are used to strengthen the web. As in standard beams, the web elements must be attached to the perimeter members to ensure the transfer of the shear forces and the perimeter members should be attached to each other to form a continuous flange and to the vertical bracing system.”
Canam Asia offers various steel deck profiles including the roll-formed P-3615, P-3606, P-2436, P-2404 and the P-3615, P-3606, P-3623 and P-2432 composites.
The decks of the P-3615, P-3606, P-2436 and P-2404 are available with a galvanised coating according to ASTM A 653M standards with a zinc thickness corresponding to Z275 (G90) or ZF75 (A25). Aluminium-zinc coated steel decks conforming to the ASTM A 792M and the designated AZM150 (AZ50) can also be provided upon request. The nominal thickness of these profiles range from 0.76 mm to 1.52 mm and the decks can be rolled to lengths from 1,800 to 12,200 mm.
The P-3615 and P-3606 deck profiles cover 914 mm and have 38 mm deep flutes, spaced at 152 mm centres; while the P-2436 and P-2404 profiles cover 610 mm and have 76 mm deep flutes which are also spaced at 152 mm centres.
Turning to the composite systems, he says: “The P-3615, P-3606 and P-3623 steel deck profiles are roll formed to cover 914 mm, while the P-2432 covers 610 mm. The decks are available with a galvanised coating according to the ASTM A 653M standard with a zinc thickness corresponding to Z275 (G90). Other types of steel sheet finishes may affect the bond properties between deck and concrete. The nominal thicknesses of these profiles are 0.76 mm, 0.91 mm and 1.21 mm.
“These composites are made of standard steel conforming to ASTM A 653M SS Grade 230 with yield strength of 230 MPa. Steel grades up to 350 MPa and a material thickness of 1.07 mm can also be provided, given sufficient delivery time.”
The P-3615 and P-3606 composites have flutes which 38 mm deep flutes spaced at 152 mm centres, and although narrow, they provide enough space to weld headed studs through the deck to the top of beams or joists that will act in a compositely with the concrete slab. The P-3623 and the P-2432 composites allow venting slots to be added to the bottom of the flutes, which are 51 mm and 76 mm deep in the P-3623 and the P-2432 composites, respectively, and spaced at 305 mm centres. The wide flutes provide enough space to weld headed studs through the deck to the top of beams or joists that will act in compositely with the concrete slab.
Canam Asia also offers the roll-formed P-3012 form deck, which covers 762 mm. The deck is available with a galvanised coating according to ASTM.A 653M standards with a zinc thickness corresponding to Z275 (G90) or with uncoated steel. Its standard thickness is 0.38 mm, 0.46 mm and 0.61 mm. The flutes are 14 mm deep and are spaced at 64 mm centres. The decks, which are composed of steel conforming to ASTM A 653M with a minimum yield strength of 410 Mpa, can be rolled to lengths according to the customer requirements or stocked in 6,200 mm lengths to cover multiple spans.