The Saleh & Abdulaziz Abahsain (Al Khobar / Saudi Arabia; www.abahsain.net) group is planning a significant investment in the Bahrain International Investment Park (BIIP), located near Khalifa bin Salman seaport. With the support of China’s Chongqing Polycomp International Corporation (Chongqing; www.cpicfiber.com), the group will invest some USD 200-300m to increase capacity from 140,000 t/y to 210,000 t/y, with 1,000 new positions as a result.

Abahsain subsidiary Abahsain Fiberglass ME (AFG, Muharraq / Bahrain; www.afg.bh), commissioned its first glassworks at BIIP last year. The line, capable of churning out 30,000 t/y of ECR glass fibres, came at an investment cost of USD 65m. The rovings, chopped strand mats and woven rovings are earmarked, among others, for affiliated company Omega Poles.

Reports indicate that construction of a second, 30,000 t/y glassworks is almost complete. At the beginning of this year, AFG’s plans called for two additional project phases with a total capacity of 180,000 t/y. Phases three and four call for a capacity expansion of 60,000 t/y each. AFG reportedly intends to allocate 40% of output to European distributors. So far, the company’s European portfolio had been distributed by, among others, Keyser & Mackay (Amsterdam / The Netherlands; www.keysermackay.com) and Muehlmeier (Barnau / Germany; www.muehlmeier.de).

Last year, AFG also invested USD 21m in a new 25,000 t/y plant for unsaturated polyester resins. A second line of similar proportions is scheduled to be built in the next two years.

CPIC’s current capacity stands at 500,000 t/y. Now that it can access AFG’s output, too, the company has moved a step closer to catching up with the world’s leading glass fibre manufacturer Jushi Group (Tongxiang, Zhejiang / China; www.jushi.com), capable of churning out 900,000 t/y.