Filling and Packing Materials Manufacturing Company (Fipco) expects to have another good year with 2008 first-half sales indicating it is on track to overhaul last year’s performance.
The company reported sales of SR147.9 million ($39.4 million) in 2008 against SR135.13 million in the previous year, while the figure for the first six months of 2008 stood at a healthy SR88.7 million.
Marketing manager Eyad Shammaa said jumbo bags contributed 33 per cent of the 2007 turnover with sales of SR48.47 million while small bags accounted for 35 per cent at SR51.4 million.
The jumbo bags are made of polypropylene and come with capacities of 500 kg, 1,500 kg and 2,000 kg. The company stresses that they comply with international specifications for the packing of fertilisers, compound polymers, petrochemicals and cement.
Fipco’s production capacity for these jumbo bags is about 2 million per year.
The other small bags that Fipco manufactures are polypropylene woven bags, cement bags and Leno and Raschel bags.
The PP woven bags have a content capacity of 5 to 50 kg and are good for packing food items such as barley, wheat, rice, flour, bran, sugar, spices, dates and chicken and animal feed as well as such non-food items as fertilisers.
They come as laminated or unlaminated and as many as 70 million of these bags can be produced per year at the company’s plant.
Fipco also makes bags it describes as three dimensional. A company text states: “They are made of polypropylene and have a side valve for packing cement, feed and fertilisers, among other products. They enjoy many benefits compared with paper bags. They have a longer life, their weight is a third of paper bags and they endure high humidity, rain and sun during storage while offering lower wastage during production and handling. They are produced in many colours.” 
Also among the smaller bags are Leno and Raschel bags with a capacity of 5 to 50 kg and they are usually packed with fruit and vegetables. Capacity for producing these is 5 million per year. Fipco notes that they are built strong enough to protect contents from attacks by birds.
Other products that Fipco manufactures are container liners, cable filler yarn, agricultural twine, baler twine, strapping band and shading net.
Shammaa said Fipco’s production in 2007 was 18,515 tonnes compared with 18,243 tonnes in the previous year.
The company supplies to Saudi and other GCC markets and has also been successful in finding buyers overseas in such regions as North America, the wider Middle East and North Africa and the Far East.
Fipco’s manufacturing facilities are located in Riyadh Industrial City and occupy a total area of 75,000 sq m.
“We have been certified to ISO 9001:2000 for quality and have a staff of more than 800,” says the company text.
“All incoming raw materials are tested as per international standards and testing is conducted through all production stages. There is full inspection of the finished big bags and random checks on other products. All products are tested in our own test facility and are supported by an international testing house for certification.”
Fipco highlights that it regularly introduces new products as a response to market needs. “Our latest product is the 20-ft container liner designed by highly qualified engineers. For bulk handling of petrochemicals, chemicals and seeds, we were the first to make ‘conductive type C bags’ in the Middle East.”
It adds that it has been participating in international and Saudi trade exhibitions and possesses testimonials from major customers who favoured it with repeat orders over the past several years.
“We take customer service very seriously and we strive constantly to be competitive in price, to supply on time and maintain the highest quality standards,” it says.
Shammaa says Fipco raw materials include pure polypropylene grades and polyethylene of low density and linear low density.
About the challenges and difficulties Fipco faces, the official comments: “As a manufacturer and leading company in the business in the kingdom, the only difficulty we are facing these days is the high price of raw materials offered by Sabic.”