ATEEQUR Rahman, general Manager, Almajdouie De Rijke (MdR), touched on the significance of the biggest deal his firm has won following the signing of the logistics contract with Sadara Chemical Company. He highlighted MdR’s capabilities and how it would proceed to fulfill its responsibilities in serving one of the world’s largest chemical complexes. Rahman also commented on the company’s growth plans.

Rahman responded to queries put to him by Gulf Industry.

What are your thoughts on the MdR-Sadara contract? Is the contract restricted to certain plants within Sadara?
MdR being a leader in Saudi Arabia engaged in petrochemical logistics, Sadara selected it as their service provider and partner. The deal has a wide-ranging scope starting from pre-commissioning and commissioning to packaging, drumming, warehousing, raw material management, container handling, internal transport and the maintenance of Sadara equipment.  Sadara has planned on a long-term basis; initially the contract duration is five years, which will be extended to another five. The contract covers all in-plant logistics and handling of raw material and finished product.     

What increases in capabilities will MdR have to look into with respect to facilities, equipment and personnel?
Well, with a project of this size, MdR is ready to face the challenges, right from personnel to infrastructure planning and equipment. One of the challenges is to hunt for professional and skilled manpower from the industry. There is enormous competition among these professionals. As almost 500-plus staff will be added to MdR we have clearly set milestones and target dates to meet the challenge.

How do you view this contract in terms of volume and value? 
With a total of about 3 million tonnes of finished product yearly, Sadara is a unique project. It will also be the largest quantity handled by MdR or any other company operating in the region. I think at this stage it will be premature to state any value as we foresee many scope-related tasks that will be added to the original ones.

With the Sadara deal, MdR will handle 10 million tonnes of petrochemicals annually. Who are the top three firms the company currently serves and what is the volume of products handled for each?
MdR operates in plants and remote facilities. The major plants are Yansab, Saudi Kayan and Ibn Zahr, to whom MdR provides onsite and multi-customer facilities. The overflow material for these and other plants are handled in our remote facilities.

What are your thoughts on MdR’s progress since it began operations in 2006?  What special skills does MdR have that differentiates it from the competition? What was the volume MdR handled in 2010?
We started in 2006 with a single project and are now handling five major projects, which proves our capabilities. We have a combination of local and European know-how, which gives us an edge over our competitors. Besides infrastructure, MdR has developed over the years complete supply chain services for its clients. When we started in 2006 we were handling 900,000 tonnes annually and this figure went up to 3 million tonnes in 2010. Subsequently we won other contracts and are now handling 7 million tonnes.

All these activities are completely supported by an advanced safety and quality spirit. Due to the sensitivity of the working environment we are dealing with the concerns and our focus is to exceed the industry’s safety and quality standards.

What growth plans does MdR have for the next three years?
As we all know, the Saudi and regional markets are a growing and promising market. Various new projects are coming up; our focus is to serve the petrochemical industry. Our plans are to expand in terms of specialised multi-customer warehousing. With this contract our vision is to extend our liquid handling activities and other relevant businesses. Currently we have a strong presence in the kingdom but our aim is to expand and offer similar services in the Gulf region.