Switzerland's Sika to Construct Specialty Chemicals Manufacturing and Technical Facility in Dubai

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Swiss chemicals manufacturer Sika AG (SWF:SIK) (Baar, Switzerland) has signed a lease agreement for a 30,000-square-meter site with TechnoPark (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), a subsidiary of Economic Zones World (Dubai). Under the terms of the lease, Sika will construct a Regional Technical Center over the coming 12 months on the site at Dubai. The center will contain both a manufacturing and technical facility and will cater to the India-Middle East-Africa (IMEA) region.

TechnoPark is a research-driven industrial and business park, offering facilities where businesses, educational and research institutions can collaborate in translating business ideas into practical realities. It caters to the major sectors of importance to the region, such as oil, gas and water, and aims to address pollution control, waste minimization, and sustainable and environmentally friendly developments and technologies.

Sika is a leading specialty chemicals company with two main divisions. The Construction Division offers a range of products such as concrete admixtures, mortar mixes, steel protection systems, waterproofing and roofing systems. The second division, known as the Industry Division, offers a range of sealing, reinforcing, bonding and damping products aimed at the automotive, transport, marine and components sectors.

The construction of the new facility ties in with Sika's growth strategy in the IMEA region. Although Sika's products have been available to the region for more than 40 years, in 2007 the company established a new regional headquarters in Dubai aimed at strengthening its response to customers in the region.

As part of this regional growth strategy, Sika is constructing a chemical production plant at Rabigh, Saudi Arabia. This plant, with an initial production capability of 50,000 tons per year, is reported to cost about $13.4 million. A spokesman for Sika indicated that plans for the factory include a three-fold increase in capacity over the next three to five years.

Output from the plant will consist mainly of products from the Construction Division and will be aimed at the growing building and construction sector. At the time of the announcement of the production plant, Sika estimated that Saudi Arabia had building and construction projects under way, with a total value of $350 billion. With the chemical construction segment representing about 1% of this, the market for the Sika range of products is extremely large.

Sika was formed in 1910 and has subsidiary companies operating in more than 70 countries worldwide, employing a staff of 12,900. The company has its main strengths in Europe, which accounts for more than 60% of its total sales and more than 50% of the total employee base. In 2008, the corresponding figures for the IMEA region were 5.6% and 6.8% of the global totals, respectively.

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