Future Pipe Industries (FPI) Group, the leading global manufacturer of large-diameter fibreglass pipe systems, has made strong gains in recent months winning major orders worth more than $230 million in Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The largest of these contracts, valued at more than $138 million, calls for the supply of fibreglass pipes and fittings for Phase Two, Category Two of a project to expand a seawater cooling facility at Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar. FPI, through its subsidiary, Future Pipe Industries Qatar, has already supplied Fibrestrong pipes for a portion of Ras Laffan’s piping systems in connection with Phase One and Category One of Phase Two. By the time Phase Two is completed, it will have delivered approximately 176,000 m of pipes.
FPI Fiberstrong pipe systems will be used for above and below-ground seawater cooling lines, fire water and chlorination.
“FPI will supply Fiberstrong fibreglass pipes for the cooling water system as this type of pipe system is highly capable of resisting the region’s high temperatures and the corrosive conditions from seawater. GRP pipes are also more efficient carriers, light in weight, durable and easy to install,” says a company spokesman.
The delivery of these fibreglass pipe systems for Phase Two Category Two, which are directed through Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company, is expected to commence this year. The project is expected to be completed by the first half of 2010.
For the UAE project, FPI has been contracted to supply Fiberstrong fibreglass pipes and fittings for two sewage treatment plants in Abu Dhabi for the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC). The total value of FPI’s contract exceeds Dh276.5 million (approximately $75.8 million).
In the first phase, the company will supply around 40 km of fibreglass pipes with diameters ranging from 400 mm to 1,600 mm for Al Saad wastewater treatment plant. Delivery of the pipes and fittings will be completed by the end of June next year. In the second phase, FPI will deliver 135 km of Fiberstrong pipes with diameters up to 2,600 mm for Al Wathba wastewater treatment plant. Delivery will be completed by December next year.
FPI’s pipe systems will be used for the trunk sewage line and the distribution of treated sewage at both the Al Wathba and Al Saad treatment plants.
ADSSC, wholly owned by Abu Dhabi Water and Electric Authority (Adwea), provides sewerage, wastewater treatment and disposal services within Abu Dhabi and has recently taken over ownership, management and operations of the sewerage system from the Abu Dhabi and Al Ain municipalities.
FPI is also supplying pipe systems to the Marafiq Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) at Jubail, Saudi Arabia, under a contract valued at more than $17 million.
The Marafiq IWPP project is thought to be the world’s largest project of its type, currently under development, and combines a 2,750 MW combined cycle power station and a desalination facility with a capacity of 800,000 cu m of water per day.
FPI will provide the project with approximately 30 km of Fiberstrong and Wavistrong pipe systems, with diameters ranging from 25 mm to 2,000 mm. The pipe systems will be used for potable water distribution and both industrial and residential waste water distribution and treatment.
Commenting on the contract, Rami Makhzoumi, president and CEO of FPI says:
“This is an important win for FPI and further demonstrates our ability to serve the piping needs of the massive power and desalination projects we are seeing in the GCC. Our fibreglass technology and our unmatched portfolio of fibreglass pipe systems, in this case our Fiberstrong and Wavistrong products, enabled us to provide the right pipe solution for this important Saudi project, which is unprecedented in scale and scope. This project, once again demonstrates our ability to apply a fibreglass pipe solution to a project that would once have opted for more traditional pipe materials, and we firmly believe that fibreglass is the pipe material of the future.”
The $3.4 billion Marafiq IWPP project, which is expect to be complete by next year, will be funded by a mixture of equity capital and project finance. The lead contractor is Sidem, a France-based engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. FPI’s delivery date for the pipe systems is by end of this year.
FPI is the global leader in the large diameter fibreglass pipe industry, developing, manufacturing and supplying fibreglass pipe systems for customers throughout the world. Headquartered in Dubai, FPI’s operations include 11 factories and a global network of sales offices across four continents.
The company serves customers in more than 50 countries across the oil and gas, infrastructure and municipal, water distribution, desalination and power, petrochemical and industrial markets. FPI’s customers are generally companies engaged in infrastructure and construction projects, such as EPC contractors and general infrastructure building contractors. The end-users of FPI’s pipe systems include governments, municipalities, other state-owned enterprises, oil and gas exploration and production companies and power generation companies.