Gulf Construction Online

Saudi Build 2008

Al Kifah has erected batching plant across the region.

Saudi Build 2008

Going mobile

01 October 2008

Al Kifah Batching Plant, Saudi Arabia’s sole manufacturer of concrete batching plants and mixing plants, will put the spotlight on its latest innovation – a mobile plant – which will be promoted alongside its wide range of batching plants.

Elaborating on the many advantages that its recently-launched mobile plant has, general manager Abdul Rahman Saleh Al Katheer says: “Being mobile, the plant can be easily transported from one site to the other. It can be dismantled and re-erected within 48 hours and offers a high productivity of 60 cu m per hour using a one cu m pan mixer. This apart, the unit has two built-in silos of 27 tonnes each, which helps in boosting cement storage capacity. Materials are fed to the aggregate bins by ram or a feeding conveyor with a rotating chute. In addition, the plant has been designed in such a way as to make all its components easily accessible for maintenance purposes.”
Located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, Al Kifah Batching Plant manufactures mobile, portable and static concrete batching plants and mixing plants and accessories such as complete aggregate sand washing plants, cement silos, radial and static conveyors and electric control panels.
Business for this Saudi pioneer has been flourishing year on year, according Al Katheer.
“During the past few years, business has been excellent,” he says. “From January till July-end of this year for instance, we have manufactured and delivered 21 batching plants to our respective customers. In addition, 24 plants are at various stages of fabrication while some more orders are expected. The approximate value of all these orders will be SR60 million ($15.99 million).
“We expect our sales figure to double to reach SR110 million this year as opposed to SR55 million last year,” he adds.
Al Katheer points out, however, that owing to the inflationary pressure in the economy, prices have been rising which have reflected on the sale prices of its products as well.
Al Katheer attributes the rapid growth in the company’s business volumes to the buoyancy in the construction market, the expertise of its sales team and the fact that it is ISO-9001 certified. In line with this surge in business, Al Kifah Batching Plant has major expansion plans in the pipeline.
“Currently, the boom in the construction sector has seen a rise in the concrete readymix business, which in turn has created a demand for our products,” he says. “Keeping in mind, the growing demand for our products, we have plans to set up one more production unit for the manufacture of water chiller and ice-making plants, which will be produced to suit the requirements of the concrete industry.
“We have already acquired land and have constructed a new building for the new facility and expect to start production by the end of this year. This production unit will meet the demands of customers both in the domestic and export markets.”
Al Kifah Batching Plant’s facilities are spread over an area of 36,000 sq m and the company has earlier this year expanded its warehouse and lathe machines workshop.
The company has also invested recently in state-of-the-art machinery, which will allow it to enhance the quality of its production in line with ISO standards. The additional machinery includes a CNC press brake machine; three overhead cranes from the UK-based Serva Crane; and two lathes from the UK.
Promoted by the Al Kifah Holding Company, Al Kifah Batching Plant is headquartered at Al Hasa in Hofuf and has satellite offices elsewhere in the kingdom in Dammam and Jeddah as well as Dubai in the UAE along with an office at Wolverhampton in the UK. The company is manned by 150 highly-qualified administrative and technical staff.
Al Kifah Batching Plant, which has been producing ISO-certified batching plant since 1993, has a production capacity of 40 to 50 complete concrete batching plants per year. It is equipped with automatic, semi-automatic machines and equipment to carry out the production processes under the supervision of efficient management and experienced production staff. Besides the manufacture of computerised and semi-automatic concrete batching plant and components, it also undertakes the refurbishment, upgrade and repair old plants and components.
With its batching plant operating across the Middle East, Al Kifah Batching Plant has maintained a reputation for adopting the latest innovative design techniques, offering customers a range of specifications and environmental considerations from which to choose.
“Our quality production and simple inexpensive erection has gained recognition not just in the Gulf, but in Jordan, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon,” Al Katheer continues. “We offer quick after-sales service by our locally resident and highly qualified technicians.”