RIYADH — Al Watania for Industries (WFI) signed a joint venture agreement with MECEN IPC from South Korea to establish the first plant in Saudi Arabia to produce polyethylene foam insulation (XLPE) in Dhurma Industrial City in Riyadh region.

With an investment of SR35 million as first phase in the first phase and a production capacity of 2,520 tons per year, this strategic project aims to introduce new options for high efficiency insulation materials in the Saudi market and to localize the technology of manufacturing this product and introduce many industrial employment opportunities for the Saudi youth.

Al Watania Industries’ Vice Chairman Sheikh Fahad Bin Sulaiman Al Rajhi said “this project will be the first project in Saudi Arabia to produce cross-linked polyethylene foam (XLPE). We are pleased to enter this JV project with the South Korean company MECEN IPC, the technical partner in this project, which owns 40%. We aim to localize the technology of manufacturing this product line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and the program of increasing the local industrial content to promote economic growth, local capacity and creation of new industrial jobs.”

Executive Director of MECEN IPC Jae Chul Park said “Saudi Arabia is one of biggest markets for insulation material in the world and we see a great potential to expand our business to whole MENA region. So strategically the best place to start is Saudi Arabia as it is the leading country in the MENA region.”

Al Watania Industries’ CEO of Eng. Ibrahim I. Behairi said: “The results of the market studies indicate that there is a demand for high-efficiency insulation materials, in line with the national orientation which focus on power savings.”

“In addition, the demand for insulation materials will grow given the ongoing or planned mega infrastructure projects in the country such as NEOM city project, Red Sea project and many other metro projects which require efficient insulation materials in terms of saving energy consumption and efficiency,” he added. — SG