Schmidt + Clemens, the Germany-based family-owned company that has made its mark in high-quality special steel solutions for over 140 years, has been capable of successfully accomplishing several challenging jobs in Middle East including complete revamps and mechanical activities related to replacement of radiant coils and convection tubes.

'Key clients such as Sabic, PetroRabigh, Sipchem and OMC have recognised the competence of our local entity in Saudi Arabia,' says Aurelio Muñoz, Corporate Sales Director, in an interview with OGN.

The firm, which won an award from the prestigious business magazine ‘Focus’ for being one of the most innovative of German companies, has innovation as the core of its Research and Development’s major activities.

That is precisely what the group brings to the Middle East Petrochemical producers -- advanced technologies that convey enhanced operational performance as well as unique product reliability throughout the whole lifetime of utilisation, he maintains.

In line with the firm’s technical leadership, special mention has to be made of the European Union IMPROOF research project, which aims to develop the most advanced ethylene cracker technology in the world in terms of improved energy efficiency by 20 per cent, while at the same time reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by at least 25 per cent. Schmidt + Clemens has been selected as supplier partner for radiant coil material innovative technology, he says.

Schmidt + Clemens is a 100 per cent German family-owned company with over 1,000 employees worldwide, distributed in the production sites of Germany, Spain, Malaysia, Czech Republic and the service related operation entity of Jubail, Saudi Arabia. In addition, its three sales offices located in Houston, Sao Paulo and Mumbai enable it to become a global company with a local presence.

'On the other hand, with respect to Research and Development, our headquarters in Germany count with the most advanced laboratory equipment including the in-house developed state-of-the-art ‘test rig’, where our alloys’ performance are tested and simulated in the same way they are operated in a furnace,' he says.

Excerpts from the interview:

Besides spun and molded castings made from high-alloy steels, what other products find applications in the region’s oil and gas and petrochemical sectors? Who are your major clients?

Our customers recognise the products we deliver as of premium quality. Schmidt + Clemens is specialised in the manufacturing of high temperature resistant alloys for special purpose applications such as radiant coils used in ethylene pyrolysis cracking furnaces or steam methane reformer catalyst tubes.

In this respect, Schmidt + Clemens has developed innovative technologies for each application. Our Centralloy family of alloys helps improve our clients’ ethylene heaters significantly by adding lifetime and run length extension via coke formation reduction. Today, our flagship alloy Centralloy HT E has been employed in 365 furnace implementations around the world (85 in Middle East). In addition, and together with our SCope (S+C Optimised Profile for Ethylene), we offer a product unrivalled called, 'SCope fusion HT E', which is capable of enhancing heat transfer with the possibility to operate at lower TMT (Tube Metal Temperatures) thus leading into a reduction of fuel consumption and environmental emissions.

Under such consideration, our clients are those who prioritise the implementation of highly innovative and reliable products to improve equipment performance in order to optimise production yields.

With 140 years of corporate history, where all in the Middle East do you have operations?

Schmidt + Clemens’ advent in the Middle East region started in the early 80s. In those years, the market size of the region’s petrochemical industry was small compared with other major worldwide key geographical areas, though we were fully convinced about the huge potential of the Middle East. Therefore, Schmidt + Clemens kept close contact and cooperation with local petrochemical companies showing nearly exclusive presence among the market players. It was during mid 90s and specially around the beginning of year 2000 that the market took off and Schmidt + Clemens grew in parallel, participating in most of the 'petrochemical wave' expansion projects.

In 2010, Schmidt + Clemens Saudi Arabia Ltd was established as a joint venture company with our local partner Global Sources. Today our entity is recognised as a 'Global Solution Provider' in the service- related activities such as installation of tubes, complete revamp and maintenance of furnaces including manpower supply of highly qualified alloy welders and supervisors.

Our Saudi company has been capable of successfully accomplishing several challenging jobs in Middle East including complete revamps and mechanical activities related to replacement of radiant coils and convection tubes, in general ahead of schedule. Key clients like Sabic, PetroRabigh, Sipchem and OMC have recognised the competence of our local entity.

How has business been over the past year and how do you see prospects for your company over the coming year?

Fortunately, the Schmidt + Clemens Group has been able to achieve a consistent increase in our global turnover from previous year with a positive balance sheet. On the other hand, the level of differentiated technical competence together with our big installed efficient capacity and the unique portfolio of services that Schmidt + Clemens Group offers, will certainly leverage us to keep the leading market position in 2020 and beyond.

We promote a partnership environment with our clients through Passion and Innovation besides bringing to the equation a 140-year-old Tradition that we can offer as Germany’s leading metallurgical company.