Courtaulds Coatings expands in Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Courtaulds Coatings expands in Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Keywords Coatings,Courtaulds, North Africa
Courtaulds, the international chemical company, announce that its first manufacturing facility in North Africa has started operation in Port Said, Egypt.
The new plant is the first such facility of International Paint Egypt SAE, a joint venture between Courtaulds (70 per cent) and International Shipping Enterprise (30 per cent). It will manufacture marine and protective coatings for the domestic market in Egypt. International Shipping Enterprise is owned by Mr Ali Hashish, a long established business partner of Courtaulds heavy-duty coatings business,International Paint.
Egypt's growing economy presents opportunities for expansion of the marine coatings business in the local market, both in marine new building, maintenance and repair, and in sea stores (for vessels passing through the Suez Canal). The continued expansion of the Egyptian oil and gas industry also offers substantial scope for protective coatings, in which Courtaulds has a strong international position.
With an initial capacity of one million litres per annum, the new factory, which cost £1 million,marks a major expansion of Courtaulds coatings business in the region and follows successful ventures in the Gulf region of the Middle East. The base in Port Said will also be used to develop business in neighbouring countries.
Courtaulds also announced today that its Saudi Arabian operation, International Paint Saudi Arabia Ltd(IPSAL), has won a major contract worth £3 million a year to supply 60 per cent of the coatings required for a new coil coating facility at Jubail, near Damroam. The new facility, BHP-Universal Metal Coating Co. Ltd, is a joint venture between BHP, the Australian steel company, and the Saudi Arabian based Al Rashed and Al Zamil Industrial groups.
IPSAL is also expanding its packaging coatings business by establishing further local production facilities with a capacity of some 1 million litres per annum.
These developments are supported by an investment of £2.5 million at IPSAL's factory in Damroam,which will now have a total annual capacity of ten million litres.
