Al Faris has made a strong start in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, working on a number of major projects, and has set a target of further expansion in the Kingdom
Having opened its Jubail depot in early 2011, Saudi Al Faris For Industrial Services Est. has already cemented its position in the heavy lift market in Eastern Province, working on a number of key industrial and petrochemical projects.
Currently Al Faris has approximately 70 cranes operating in its fleet from its Jubail depot, as well as forklifts and heavy transportation equipment.
Well-known as a key crane rental company in the United Arab Emirates, gaining a foothold in Saudi Arabia has been relatively easy, said Kieve Pinto, Executive Director, Saudi Al Faris For Industrial Services Est, since they have previously worked with in the UAE with many of the large companies in Eastern Province, including the Korean industrial construction companies.
But it has also established connections with many large local companies in Saudi Arabia he says. “Many of these companies are very active, and are playing a key role in the market.”
Of the company’s business in Eastern Province, projects include working with maintenance and shut down companies on plant shut downs and mechanical jobs in the oil and gas sector.
It has also busy on various industrial projects, including in Ras Al Khair at the Minerals City, working on projects that include the construction of the enormous Ma’aden aluminium smelter. When completed, it will be the largest in the world.
“We’re doing mobile cranes, crawler cranes, and heavy transportation,” said Pinto. “We work proportionately with industrial construction companies as well as industrial and maintenance and shut down jobs.”
Construction job for Al Faris tend to be industrial rather than civil, he explained.
Pinto says he does not expect the company will move immediately into work on downstream projects in a big way, due to the volume of the existing work they already have.
But Pinto says that they are “slowly creeping into the [downstream] market,” and expect to grow their presence there as they build their fleet of smaller cranes, namely rough terrain cranes and telescopic crawler cranes. They have already received pre-qualification from Saudi Aramco.
“[Currently] we are focused more on the heavier equipment, but we are planning on bringing in a lot of smaller equipment as well.”
At the moment its fleet is predominantly mobile All Terrain Cranes, mostly Liebherr. They also have a lot of telescopic crawler cranes in Saudi Arabia, and are building that fleet due to customer demand.
“We have found telescopic crawlers to be successful in various projects, and some clients like to work with telescopic crawler cranes once they see the benefits.”
Pinto says the firm has been able to bring their extensive experience to the market in the Kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia does have very stringent practices when working on site in oil and gas. Our expertise and experience in the UAE directly translates into these jobs, especially during the documentation phase. It’s very important to have the right documentation in place, and we need to have very qualified people as well to work in Saudi Arabia.
“We find ourselves well-placed to work with the oil and gas companies, because we have better practices and higher standards. We’ve already established ourselves in the market to follow these procedures.”
Looking ahead, Pinto sees the company establishing itself as a specialised heavy lift and transport company, with the addition of extra heavy transport equipment and hydraulic trailers into their fleet.
In 2013 it also plans to start an energy division in Saudi Arabia, matching its expansion into the energy division in the UAE.
It is also planning on opening depots in the Western Region, in Jeddah and Yanbu, targeting there exactly the same type of work, industrial and oil and gas projects. In Yanbu the company is already doing work.
Asked to explain the approach of Al Faris, Pinto says it is always focused on providing the best solutions for clients, and planning carefully before the lift starts, with documentation and plans provided to customers.
“Our Unique Selling Point is that we have always worked closely with customers, to find most efficient and optimum solution for lifting, always.”
Al Faris’ massive Liebherr order for Saudi
Al Faris’s expansion into the Saudi Arabian market recently received a boost after its Jubail depot received a delivery of Liebherr mobile cranes, and it now has a fleet of more than 60 Liebherr cranes. 17 more units are expected to arrive before March next year.
The Jubail depot initially had 31 cranes when it opened, a number now boosted to above 70.
Earlier this year, Al Faris revealed to PMV that it intends on spending $50m on cranes in 2013.
Al Faris’s rental’s arm has one of the largest fleets of mobile cranes in the Middle East, with more than 360 units, including All Terrain and Rough Terrain cranes.
The Saudi rental fleet now includes 29 x 50 – 100t class; 18 x 100 – 160t class; 12 x 200 – 250t class; and 4 x 300 – 500t class Liebherr mobile cranes.
According to Al Faris technical director, Brian Green, the 95 tonne Liebherr LTM 1095-5.1’s, a 5-axle model with a 58 metre boom offering the largest telescopic boom in its class, is proving to be the crane of choice for most erection applications.
