Flowserve Abahsain Flow Control Company, a valve manufacturing plant and training centre set up as a joint venture between Flowserve Corporation and S&A Abahsain Company Ltd, is expanding in light of its success in the Saudi market, according to a top official. 

Flowserve Corporation is a leading provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets while S&A Abahsain operates as one of the top 50 business entities in the kingdom   

The manufacturing plant, based in Dammam, is a state-of-the-art, 55,000 sq ft facility with capabilities for component machining, valve assembly, and testing. It was formed early in 2009 to supply valves to the oil and gas, petrochemical, power and water industries.

The facility has capability to manufacture a broad range of valves and actuators including Flowserve Valtek globe, ball, plug, butterfly and severe service control valves; Flowserve Valbart trunnion mounted ball valves; Flowserve Durco/Atomac Teflon-lined plug, ball and butterfly valves; Flowserve Serck Audco plug valves; Flowserve Limitorque electric actuators and Flowserve Automax pneumatic actuators.

It also boasts a world-class training centre which combines classroom instruction with “hands on” training for Flowserve valve and actuation products. Training is available for both Flowserve employees and Saudi customers, and is customisable for operations, maintenance, procurement or engineering personnel.

The facility also serves as a fully equipped Flowserve Quick Response Centre (QRC) which provides service and repair support to Saudi-based customers. The QRC employs qualified valve technicians who perform valve repair and troubleshooting either in the facility or at the customer’s site. The QRC maintains an inventory of valves and spare parts, which minimises delivery lead times for customers.

“We have expanded our operations recently including machining, welding, assembly and testing equipment and oxygen cleaning facilities. These impact all of the primary products we manufacture and service.  We are also planning to expand the range of the products we can manufacture, service and support in 2016 and through 2020,” said Reid Wayman, director and general manager of Flowserve Abahsain Flow Control Company.

“We currently produce around 250 units per month depending on the sizes of the valves.  We expect a small increase in capacity and output in 2016 driven by broader market coverage and a wider range of product and service offerings,” he added.

The plant is an approved supplier to major Saudi firms including Saudi Aramco, Sabic, Sadara, Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) and National Water Company (NWC). 

Its largest industry segment was oil and gas including upstream production, mid-stream processing and downstream refining, followed by the petrochemical industry and the water industry. 

In 2015, its number one selling product was automatic control valves (approximately 1,500 units). It also produced approximately 200 units of assorted ball and plug valves while repairs of a variety of types of valves (approximately 400 units) was the second highest contributor to sales.

Business has been steady throughout the plant’s operation, according to Wayman. “Business in 2015 was better than it was in 2014 and we expect 2016 to maintain the same level of growth,” he said. 

The slowdown in the oil and gas industry has resulted in a decrease in the number of new projects. In these conditions, the plant will see its revenue coming mostly from service and support work and more maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) work, according to Wayman.