A technical agreement reached with a US firm will enable Saudi Arabia to produce for the first time high-tech steel valves required by the petrochemical and other industries.

Saudi Valves Manufacturing Establishment (SVM), which also makes pipeline accessories, has announced a tie-up with GWC-Kinka for the production of carbon, stainless and alloy steel valves at a unit to be established at Jubail Industrial City.

"We expect to begin production within this year," said managing director Yusuf Bukhari. "Initial production will be 400 to 500 valves per month of various sizes and we expect to raise output in course of time as demand from the local petrochemical companies is huge." The unit is being developed at a cost of SR15 million to produce steel gate, globe, ball and check valves of sizes from half-inch to 48 inches.

Bukhari said the production of steel valves required high-standards of technical adaptation and machination, and his company was confident its collaboration with the US firm would be successful.

SVM currently manufactures different types and sizes of ductile iron valves under a technical licence agreement with Erhard GMBH & Company of Germany. The product range includes gate valves, check valves (swing or tilting disc), butterfly valves (flanged and wafer/lug), air valves (single and double orifice), needle valves (vaned ring and slotted cylinder), ball valves and pressure-control and reducing valves. The valves, whose sizes can go up to 48 inches NPS, are manufactured in compliance with international API, BS or DIN standards and have industrial and public utility applications.

"We have been successful in serving the process industries by overhauling, servicing and refurbishing valves for shutdowns and turnarounds including normal preventive maintenance, thereby helping austerity measures and cutting costs in industry," said Bukhari. SVM is an ISO 9002-certified organisation with an annual turnover of SR10 million.

The company's pipeline accessories include flange adaptors, pipeline couplings, dismantling joints, repair clamps and pipe saddles. The factory is equipped with a fusion bond epoxy system to safeguard the products from harsh soil and atmospheric conditions.

"When installed throughout a pipeline, the accessories adjust expansions and contractions and restrict ground movement and lengthy radius curvatures, ensuring leak-tight joints and eliminating the need for expansion joints," the company said.

SVM joints are manufactured for pipe materials in steel, uPVC, ductile iron, asbestos cement, GRP, stainless steel, aluminium alloys and virtually all rigid pipe materials to suit the international dimensions of pipes.

"The patent design of SVM joint fittings assures easy, quick and accurate assembling and there is protection against corrosion with fusion-bonded epoxy blue coating," said SVM in a description of its products.

Bukhari has projected a 20 per cent growth in sales in 2001 with expectations of business from upcoming projects in the Kingdom's Western Provinces. Company sales are mostly concentrated locally with 10 per cent of sales value accounted for by other Gulf markets. Buyers in Saudi Arabia are the major government authorities, the Royal Commission, petrochemical industries, the Saudi Arabian Oil Company and the Sabic group as well as reputed consultants and contractors.