Abundant natural gas resources, new process technologies and economies of scale are the driving forces behind a number of new polyolefin and other plastic manufacturing facilities being developed in the Middle East.

Now, Gulf Stabilizers Industries (GSI) has joined the fold, utilising state-of-the-art technology to produce a range of antioxidants to meet growing demand in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the GCC.

A joint venture between Saudi Arabia's Al Zamil Group and Great Lakes Chemical Corporation of the US, the Jubail-based manufacturing facility draws on Great Lakes' status as a global leader in polymer additives to offer a high quality service on a local level in the Middle East. Its major customers in the Kingdom already include world-class petrochemical giant Sabic and a number of other polymer producers.

Great Lakes is a well established global producer of polymer additives. These include non-halogen and brominated flame retardants, UV stabilisers, antioxidants and antimony-based derivatives. The company is also known for its pioneering role in the development of innovative physical forms of additive blends, such as Non Dusting Blends (NDBs) and Fyreblocs.

GSI's standard range of plastic products is known globally. The Anox 20, Anox pp 18 and Alkanox 240 are manufactured to the same stringent quality control specifications demanded by Great Lakes manufacturing facilities around the world.

In addition to the basic antioxidants, however, GSI has installed the capacity to provide its customers with patented one pack Anox NDBs. This NDB technology offers customers the ability to simplify additive addition, improve the quality of their products and give considerable overall cost benefits, according to the company.

To achieve these benefits, by fixing the ratio of additives at the manufacturing stage of the NDBs, it is no longer necessary to perform multiple Quality Control tests to monitor the level of each additive. When feeding up to five separate additives there are five things which can go wrong and five causes for product to be out of specification. When these same additives are combined in a one-pack Anox NDB additive, control challenges are reduced by 80 per cent. Five separate additives could also mean three, four or even five separate vendors. In addition, each imported additive requires clearance procedures. Thus, both administrative and logistical costs can be significantly reduced by sourcing additive requirements in a one-pack Anox NDB.

As well as the above benefits, the fact that GSI is local also reduces lead times, gives faster delivery and lessens the need for inventory and the associated problems of long supply chains and their inevitable delays.

Top quality products can, according to the company, be delivered overnight to customers in Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC at highly competitive prices, compared with imported antioxidants.

Close manufacturer-to-client cooperation is also enhanced by GSI through frequent multi-level, multi-functional communications. Even in the age of the Internet and e-commerce, the personal touch is still very much a GSI philosophy.