Qanbar Dywidag is involved with several prestigious housing projects across the kingdom.
Soaring demand has Qanbar busy
Qanbar Dywidag is reinforcing its status as Saudi Arabia’s premier precast manufacturer having doubled production capacity to cater to rising demand in the kingdom.
01 October 2010
WITH demand for precast concrete on the rise in Saudi Arabia, Qanbar Dywidag Precast Concrete Company (QDC) has been reaping the benefits of having set up a third factory in Rabigh in the Western Region.
The leading Saudi precast manufacturer is also cashing in on the advantages of the increased capacity that the new facility has given it. The Rabigh factory, which has a production capacity of 280,000 cu m per year and went on stream early this year, has more than doubled the company’s annual capacity to 500,000 cu m, further consolidating its position as a premier manufacturer and supplier of precast concrete in the region.
“We are currently supplying to several projects from our Rabigh facility,” says Ahmad Sameh, marketing manager of QDC. “These include Taibah University in Madinah and Al Sultan Tower in Jeddah. We are also supplying our building frames for two-storey villas for a Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) housing project in Yanbu.”
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Al Swaidi office building in Jubail industrial city ... a QDC project. |
The Jubail-headquartered QDC continues to be a part of many prestigious projects under way in the country including the landmark Samsung Naffora Techno Valley (SNTV) complex in the Royal Commission’s Jubail Industrial City, which is now nearing completion. The multi-use complex, which sports QDC’s precast cladding panels and double-tee slabs, comprises eight buildings and will serve as the global networking link between Samsung Engineering’s head office and its overseas branches.
The complex will have research and development, training, education, safety, engineering, convention, well-being, sports, dormitory, guest houses and site security centres.
Other major QDC projects under way in the Eastern Province include a Royal Commission of Jubail and Yanbu housing project in Jubail, which calls for the supply of full building frames for the construction of 538 villas and 20 apartment buildings; King Faisal University, Al Ahsa and Dammam, which entails the supply of cladding elements, double-tee slabs and hollowcore slabs; and substations for Sceco and Saudi Aramco.
Meanwhile, cladding work using QDC elements is also nearing completion on the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) headquarters building in Riyadh.
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The Jubail Industrial College housing project. |
To keep abreast of latest developments, the company continues to invest in various upgrades and is keen on technological developments that can enhance the quality of its products. QDC is now looking at boosting the capacity of its Jubail facility by 10 per cent with the addition of new production lines.
In general, he says that the Saudi market is flourishing, with the government having already launched several developmental projects in the fields of infrastructure and building construction. In line with these developments, Sameh is optimistic of surging demand for precast.
“Considering the lead time, quality, easy maintenance, and finishing beauty, precast is playing a major role in the infrastructure and building construction sectors, and Qanbar definitely expects to secure a large number of contracts based on its market leadership, reputation and the sound relationship that it has enjoyed with clients and main contractors in the country,” he says.
QDC was formed in 1981 as a partnership between Sheikh Abdul Razzak Mohammed Qanbar Al Ansari, a leading businessman in the Eastern Province, and Dycherhoff and Widmann (Dywidag), one of the largest German general contractors and precast concrete manufacturers, In January 2002, Al Ansari bought Dywidag’s entire shareholding, becoming the sole owner of QDC. Dywidag continues to provide technical support to the company.
Apart from the new Rabigh facility, the company has two other factories in Saudi Arabia located in Jubail, both of which can produce 220,000 cu m of precast concrete annually. Its products vary from standard precast concrete elements to prestressed girders and slabs.
Headquartered in the Jubail Industrial City in the Eastern Province, QDC’s scope of work covers design, manufacture, delivery and installation of precast and prestressed concrete components in accordance to specifications based on international standards.
The company provides a comprehensive range of products, offering a one-stop shop for all precast and prestressed concrete requirements, right from standard precast concrete elements and products such as paving and interlock tiles, manholes and seating to boundary walls, external cladding panels, prestressed hollowcore slabs, double-tee slabs, and precast domes, prestressed long-span girders, and full-frame systems utilising walls, beams-and-columns.
QDC, which has a staff strength of 2,000 skilled and experienced personnel, has sales offices in Jubail, Dammam, Riyadh and Jeddah.
