AL BAWANI has entered the big league. Over the past two years, following a significant investment in its resources, the company has raised its profile in the construction contracting business to take on some of the big projects in the kingdom.

HAVING seen promising signs of an upturn in the market, the Pre-Engineered Building (PEB) division of Zamil Steel is hopeful of making further gains in its global export arena in the year ahead.

SIGMA Paints has witnessed “remarkable” growth in the project sector of the paint market over the past year, particularly in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. The surge in demand from this segment has helped the Dammam-based paint specialist tackle the challenges of a difficult year in the paint business.

SAUDI Preinsulated Pipes Industries (SPPI) is setting up a new facility which will not only boost its production capacity of preinsulated pipes but will also enable it to expand its product range.

GULF Depot has crowned its 10th year of successful operations by embarking on a major expansion that has seen the Saudi-based building products provider grow both physically as well as in terms of its portfolio strength.

RIYADH-based Al Sayed and Sons Company has opted to protect its business-critical archives, electrical cabinets and computer servers with a total of 53 Firetrace automatic fire detection and suppression systems from the US-headquartered Firetrace International, as part of an integrated fire protection installation.

FOLLOWING its tremendous success last year, Gulf Cooperation Symbols Contracting Company (GCS) has been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco to construct its site facilities at the Shaybah NGL and Yanbu Export Refinery projects.

FIRST Saudi Insulation Manufacturing Company (FSIMC), a company owned by Alghanim Industries, plans to launch a new stone wool manufacturing facility in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia.

A LIEBHERR 355 HC-L 12/24 Litronic luffing jib crane was used to place the crescent on the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, the second tallest building in the world, in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, at a height of more than 600 m.

REFRIGERATION House Group (RHG), a leading Saudi supplier of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) spare parts and accessories, has expanded its manufacturing portfolio in a big way over the past year and now offers the market a wide range of dampers and fans.

QANBAR Dywidag Precast Concrete Company (QDC) is looking forward to a promising year ahead against the backdrop of increased government spending on infrastructure and construction projects in Saudi Arabia.

PRESTIGIOUS developments such as Princess Nora University in Riyadh and King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) have turned to Saudi Electronic Trading Company (Setra) to provide data centres and low-voltage systems to meet their critical requirements.

WITH the growing awareness of the need to use fibreglass reinforced plastics (FRP) products where large-scale corrosion is inevitable, Saudi Pultrusion Industry (SPI) says it has seen a surging demand for its products.

SAUDI Ceramic Company (SCC) has registered record sales for the past year as it continues to expand into foreign markets. Products from the company are now available in more than 52 countries across the globe and have been supplied to hundreds of distributors and project owners worldwide.

PLUS Arabia, whose core business is the construction and resale of residential villas in Saudi Arabia, last year successfully built and sold 60 luxury villas in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

DRAKE & Scull Saudi, the MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) arm of Drake & Scull International (DSI) in the kingdom, has been awarded a $36.75-million contract to provide turnkey MEP solutions to Assila Towers, a high-profile development in Jeddah.

STIRLING Lloyd Polychem, a leading waterproofing technology specialist, says its high-performance products have withstood the test of time to provide effective and long-lasting protection to many water and power utility projects throughout Saudi Arabia.

WITH demand on the rise for its steel products, Al Yamamah Steel Industries Company has embarked on an expansion which is designed to double its production capacity within the coming two years, says Yousef Bazaid, the CEO of the company.

SCHNEIDER Electric, a global specialist in energy management, has named Saudi Arabia its best market for 2011 in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, accounting for 60 per cent of GCC sales and 30 per cent of Middle East sales.

NATIONAL Pipe Company (NPC), a leading manufacturer of large diameter steel pipes in Saudi Arabia, will be launching a new production line next year, to meet the anticipated increase in market demand. The Al Khobar-based company has been producing to full capacity, according to Nader Al Baadi, an executive at the company’s commercial department.

TRELAWNY SPT, a specialist in surface preparation technology, has identified Saudi Arabia as a key area for growth in the coming year and is therefore increasing its activities in the kingdom.

MORE than 40 Cat D8R machines are currently working deep in Rub Al Khali, Saudi Arabia’s renowned Empty Quarter, as part of a fleet being used by Sinopec on an oil and gas prospecting project for oil company Saudi Aramco.

WATER and Environment Technologies Company (Wetico) is putting the finishing touches to a huge sewage treatment plant (STP) in Saudi Arabia’s Najran area.

ALTHOUGH a relative newcomer on the market, resilient and sport flooring specialist Tasco has already chalked up dozens of project references in Saudi Arabia where it has proved its mettle.

GERMANY-headquartered Peri has helped El Seif Engineering Contracting Company realise fast and safe working processes on the conference centre at the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh through its formwork systems.

JOTUN Saudia Company, an industry leader in decorative paints for the kingdom, has become a choice supplier to a number of key projects in the kingdom, thanks to its focus on developing products that suit local conditions and its focus on the environment, says an official at the company.

JEDDAH-BASED Mimar for Construction Tools and Trading, the sole agent for Fein power tools in Saudi Arabia, is currently promoting the latest tools offered by its German principal in the kingdom.

ALFANAR Ceramics, which launched production in early 2009 with an initial capacity of just 15,000 sq m per day of wall and floor tiles, is set to launch a major expansion next month (June) which will boosts its production capacity to 50,000 sq m per day by the end of this year.

WITH the increasing awareness of the need to use energy-efficient products, Saudi Insulated Blocks Company (Sibco) reports a keen interest in its insulating concrete blocks that offer a host of advantages over their conventional concrete counterparts.

FAISAL Electro Mechanical Company (Femco), a leading engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor in Saudi Arabia, is currently playing a major role in the country’s education sector by providing its services to create quality infrastructure for places of higher learning in various cities.

AL OSAIS International Holding Company has embarked on a well-devised plan to diversify its areas of operations by joining hands with reputed global companies that are open to transferring technology.

WHILE group company Ashco, a specialist in cable management systems, was the focus of its growth strategy last year, Al Ashoury Trading Industry and Contracting Company is now shifting its attention to another affiliate Ash Power in an attempt to tap the various segments of the electromechanical sector and diversify its revenue streams.

ADEX Contracting, Maintenance and Operation, which has seen a significant growth in business in Saudi Arabia’s upbeat construction sector over the past year, has set its sights on the hospitality sector.

RENAISSANCE Interiors, a leading manufacturer and design and contracting specialist, says its commitment to the highest standards of quality and precision in all its work makes it the preferred choice for many projects. The company is currently carrying out a major five-star hotel project in the Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia.

Link for the Projects at a glance:

AMBITIOUS, awe-inspiring and all-encompassing: This probably sums up the scale of construction projects unleashed by Saudi Arabia over the past year, thanks to its windfall oil revenues.

SAUDI ARABIA is the leading construction player in the GCC and will see some $119 billion worth of contracts awarded against the region’s total tally of $286 billion over the 2012 and 2016 period(1).

A 1.6-SQ-KM area of Riyadh traversed by a wadi has been in the midst of a metamorphosis over the past three to four years, which is transforming it into a nucleus of world-class institutions, residential and recreational areas, hotels and civic amenities befitting the financial hub of the economic powerhouse of the region.

STUNNING, sleek and gleaming silvery grey, the kilometre-high Kingdom Tower will also be a green building.

MORE than half the work has been completed on a major road project that aims to ease traffic congestion along Riyadh’s ring roads and reduce the travelling time to the centre of the Saudi capital.

THE site of the multi-billion-dollar Jabal Omar Development, which aims to house more than 100,000 pilgrims during the peak pilgrimage seasons, is a hive of activity with work under way on two phases of the massive mixed-use development.

SAUDIA Aerospace Engineering Industries (SAEI) has awarded a joint venture of TAV Construction, Al Rajhi Holding, and Al Habtoor Leighton a contract to build an aircraft maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) facility at the King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) in Jeddah.