Amiantit orders from three countries top €34.5M

• Strategic spread of manufacturing network producing rich returns

DAMMAM, Nov. 19, 2007 -- With a network of 33 manufacturing facilities strategically spread around the world, the Amiantit Group is reaping rich rewards from the ever increasing global demand for pipe systems for both municipal and industrial infrastructure projects, with recent orders from three countries alone adding up to more than €34.5 million.

The two biggest orders are for projects in Saudi Arabia exceeding €18 million. Both projects are using GRP pipes for seawater cooling systems produced by AFIL which is the largest fiberglass pipes and tanks manufacturer in the Middle East. The largest project has been awarded to Amiantit Fiberglass Industries Limited (AFIL) by Al Marafiq project in Jubail with a price tag of €11 million. The second largest, valued at €7.4 million, has been also awarded to (AFIL) for GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) pipes and fittings for the seawater cooling system at Desalination Plant located at Ras Al Zawr, north of Jubail.

The third contract award has gone to Amiantit Polyolefin Piping Systems Company (APPSCo) and is for High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes for Al-Jazea Establishment projects in Jizan and Qassim. Worth €5.6 million the order is the biggest in the history of APPSCo.

"Globalization is resulting in increased prosperity in regions as far apart as Asia and Latin America, while the huge spike in the price of oil is fuelling a new boom in the producing countries," said Eng, Fareed Al-Khalawi, President & CEO of the Amiantit Group. "Everywhere, nations have money to spend and are investing it in massive municipal and industrial development projects that invariably call for pipe systems for applications ranging from domestic drinking water supply and sewage disposal to industrial seawater cooling systems and agricultural irrigation. Amiantit's global expansion in recent years was to enable the Group's manufacturing facilities and sales offices to win orders on the basis of their local presence and we are now seeing the highly successful results of our strategic forward planning."

Amiantit Group manufacturing facilities in Spain and Turkey are doing especially well, and while figures for the biggest Turkish orders cannot be revealed due to contract confidentiality clauses, Amitech Spain has announced three recent contract awards totalling €8 million. The two biggest of these are for GRP pipes for irrigation projects in Leon and Catalunya and both orders were won on the basis of the project owners' satisfaction with previous contracts fulfilled by Amitech Spain. The third order is for GRP pipes for a brine sewer line that crosses the Llobregat River, which crosses the Barcelona metropolitan area.

Amitech Poland Is another of the Amiantit Group's GRP manufacturing facilities that is benefiting from municipal investment in public services and has recently commenced deliveries of GRP pipes for the extension of a new wastewater treatment plant in Gdansk. The total value of the order is €2.5 million.

GRP pipes are produced using Amiantit-owned Flowtite manufacturing technology and are the Group's environment-friendly best-seller due to several advantages, which include easy installation because the pipes are light in weight, and their corrosion resistance which makes the pipes virtually maintenance free with a long service life.

The Saudi Arabian Amiantit Company was established in 1968 at Dammam as a limited liability company and was converted into a joint stock company in 1994. The prime activity of the company is to initiate and manage new industrial projects, and market its technologies and products. The company also monitors and controls the business of all the Amiantit Group subsidiaries through its corporate management office in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

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