Saudi-based Abdulla Fouad Impalloy Company (AFIC) foresees exceptional growth in its business over the next few years, says managing director Mike McKinzie.
A leading provider of cathodic protection and corrosion mitigation products and services including design, installation, materials, engineering, monitoring, maintenance, and technical support, AFIC offers sales and engineering services to the GCC and international markets.
“AFIC is considering an expansion into the Far East and Russia in the next 18 months,” says Bao Pham, technical director.
He continues: “AFIC, the largest cathodic protection company in Middle East, was formed in 1982 as a joint venture between Abdulla Fouad Group and Impalloy of the UK. The combination of Abdulla Fouad's success in Saudi Arabian heavy industry and construction services combined with Impalloy’s reputation as a world-class cathodic protection (CP) provider produced a company capable of meeting the unique needs of the cathodic protection markets in the Middle East.
“AFIC, the largest stockist of CP materials in the Middle East, became a 100 per cent Saudi-owned entity in 1998.”
“We are progressing on an accelerating upward trend with growth estimated at approximately 17 per cent, 24 per cent and 22 per cent respectively over the next three years,” declares McKinzie.
“Having recently shifted to a much larger manufacturing facility in the Dammam First Industrial Area, our manufacturing capability has increased by approximately 400 per cent,” he adds.
AFIC’s steady increase in regional projects and accreditation as a quality supplier of engineering services and materials is unparalleled in the Middle East CP market place.
It enjoys a multitude of partnering agreements with material and technical service providers from the US, Canada, Britain, Europe and Asia. AFIC is able to design and supply turnkey CP systems and/or corrosion monitoring systems (CMS) to meet virtually any requirement.
AFIC supplies cathodic protection products and engineering services to major oil and gas, and petrochemical companies in Saudi Arabia and Middle East. Additionally, it is a priority subcontractor to major international and local contractors.
During the last five years, AFIC has been extensively working with Saudi Aramco on the design and construction of CP systems to protect the down-hole and surface casings of oil and gas wells in the existing and new oil and gas fields.
The CP design includes solutions for single wells and multi-well drill sites.
A variety of new products have been introduced over the past two years.
They include pyramid anodes, special application transformer rectifiers, compact transformer rectifiers, underground splice junction boxes, remote monitoring units, corrosion probes, offshore MMO anodes and specialty coatings products for a variety of applications.
The AFIC management team consists of specialists in general corrosion services, manufacturing, CP applications, finance, quality assurance and associated disciplines.
In addition to management and technical expertise, the full range of specialised knowledge, research and development (R&D) support and financial back-up puts AFIC into the top tier for CP companies worldwide.
AFIC’s long-term strategy is providing Saudi Arabian and the Middle East CP market with the highest level of products and technical services available.
The company’s engineering and technical personnel are certified by the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) and other recognised international institutes. It’s CP engineers hold certifiable university degrees from accredited universities worldwide, while AFIC is certified as an ISO 9001-2000 company by Moodys Inter-national.
AFIC manufactures and assembles the vast majority of the products sold to its customers. In addition to manufacturing quality products to international standards, AFIC’s in-house stock of transformer rectifiers, anodes, junction boxes, test stations and other related cathodic protection components are available for immediate delivery. “The result of in-kingdom stocking is greater economy and faster delivery for our Middle Eastern customers,” McKinzie says.
The company’s numerous international partnerships span more than 28 years with major suppliers of cathodic protection materials, equipment, and technical services providers throughout the world. AFIC works with suppliers to insure that the quality of the raw materials and/or components are capable of withstanding the severely corrosive operating environment in the Middle East.
“AFIC’s operational paradigm is to engage in continuous improvement of existing products and to increase research and development of new products in order to improve our operating capabilities and meet our customers’ expectations as the best full service cathodic protection provider in the Middle East,” McKinzie says.
Javed Khan, AFIC’s manager of financial services, says: “Nineteen per cent of AFIC’s current production of cathodic protection materials, supplies, equipment, and finished goods are exported to the GCC through either in-house projects or sales to outside entities.”
AFIC is now considering expanding its capabilities in the corrosion and specialty coatings markets to enhance and add value to its services.
