Bahrain Aluminium Extrusion Company (Balexco), the Manama-based aluminium extrusions profile maker is poised to be in a stronger position as it embarks on a significant plant upgrade and expansion plan in the coming year.

The new technology upgrade at its plant located in Sitra involves installation of infrared die heating oven to enable rapid and reliable heating of dies for extrusion. 

“Balexco presently has horizontal powder coating line with two booths, one of which will be upgraded into state-of-the-art booth from Wagner Itep SpA of Italy. The new booth will reduce powder wastage with the new efficient recovery system and advance booth design. It also reduces colour time by 75 per cent. The new system is energy-efficient, saving running cost on electrical energy consumption. Over-all, the new booth will increase booth reliability, consistent, powder application quality, reduce wastage and save energy,” Balexco chief executive officer Jassim Seyadi said.

With four modern extrusion presses and state-of-the-art fully automated anodizing plant and powder coating plant, Balexco has come a long way from the initial production capacity of 6,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) to present capacity of 33,000 tpa.

The company added a new extrusion press in 2011 thereby taking the total number of its presses to four. At the same time, revamping and overhauling of the remaining three presses carried out further enhanced and streamlined its operation and minimised the recurrence of maintenance.
 

Seyadi: focusing on reducing costs

“Balexco’s key strength lies in optimum utilisation of its resources,” Seyadi said. 

The plant is also equipped with four modern wrapping machines as part of the strategic investment and to enhance supply of products. 

VARIED SOLUTIONS

Balexco, whose history dates back to 1977, is among the aluminium extruders in the Gulf and today caters to a wide array of customers’ demand for various industrial and architectural applications.

“Balexco architectural systems profiles are well accepted by customers in Bahrain and other GCC markets. We also produce customised profiles for specific project to meet the demands of the consultants and provide them solutions,” he said.

Balexco system profiles are easy to fabricate and assemble which eases out the fabricators work to complete their project on time and meet the tight deadline. Easy access to local smelter, Alba, makes it possible for Balexco to provide flexibility in its various alloys to meet customer requirements. 

The company also provides specialised shapes and dimensions, which are tailor-made, customised and extruded as per the client and Industrial applications. Aluminium extrusion attributes – light weight, strength, high thermal conductivity, non-corrosive, ease of fabrication – gives rise to limitless form and ensure their presence in kitchen cabinets, AC grills, shop fronts, scaffolding profiles, ladders, marine industry, transportation and other. 
 

Balexco’s plant is well equipped with four modern presses

“We have ready dies to meet various industry requirements and keep a steady stock of fast moving items to ensure speedy and just-in-time delivery,” he added.

Balexco, which completed 38 years of excellence in extrusion since the inception, has over 6000 dies of various applications which is the backbone of its strength. “Complex shapes can be extruded without having to rely on mechanical joining. These extruded profiles are typically stronger than section requiring a mechanical joint,” he added. 

“Being an ISO 9001:2008 certified company, the company strives to go beyond the expectation of the customers, end user, clients and has achieved high levels of customer satisfaction. This is an ongoing continuous process of improvement,” Seyyadi said. The in-house surface treatment plants are in compliance with Qualicoat for powder coating and Qualando for anodizing plant, he added. 

The company exports nearly 75 per cent of its products within the GCC and is a specified supplier in the Ministry of Housing projects and other PPP projects. 

LOOKING AHEAD 

Despite the challenges the industry is currently fraught with, Balexco is optimistic about the future growth of the sector.

“Reduced oil prices in the international market has caused concern in the GCC region and this has become a challenge for the next year. However, backed by strong network of customers, access to end users, traders and stockists, we strongly believe that we can overcome the challenges posed under the present and future circumstances,” Seyyadi said.

For the next year, the company plans to focus on promoting thermal break system profiles, lift and slide system besides the regular architectural/ industrial profiles. 

“Our consistent endeavour is to ensure that Balexco remains a one stop destination for aluminium extruded products,” he added.