Ibn Hayyan Plastics Products Company (TAYF), a downstream plastics producer and an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), has launched four new major re-branded products and one entirely new product.
"We are pleased to make known the full commercial productions of our five new range of products and the start of marketing drive in both the local, regional and international markets," said Mr. Abdullah Saad Al Rabeeah, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TAYF, during a press conference held in its headquarters.
Mr. Al Rabeeah said the re-branded TAYF products are the Farah PVC sheets, Nairuz wallcoverings, Jeld artificial weather, the Taghlif binding products, and the Islamiyat borders. He said these products have wide household, commercial and industrial applications and are expected to be boom in the market. "These are treated plastics products that meet the highest safety and health standards, as well being environmentally friendly," he said.
The Islamiyat borders, produced for the first time in the Middle East, offer exclusive range of Islamic motifs and designs for homes, apartments, mosques, hotels, restaurants and shopping centers. "These were designed by Saudi artists and produced by Saudi workforce; they depict therefore the culture, value and Islamic heritage of Saudi Arabia," Mr. Al-Rabeeah said.
Mr. Fayez M. Al Rokh, Executive General Manager, TAYF said the next products on the pipeline are the calendered rigid film and the calendered soft-film. Construction of additional plants is also being considered as part of the company's expansion program.
The newly launched re-branded TAYF products are of the highest quality and produced using the most modern and state-ofthe- art production facilities and technology acquired from Germany, Mr. Al Rabeeah told media representatives. He added that as an ISO certified company, TAYF's new products have also met the stringent standards of the UK, USA and France.
According to Mr. Al Rokh, although TAYF was inaugurated in 1977, the plant went into commercial operation only in 2002 producing PVC-based products such as PVC sheets, wall coverings, artificial leather, and binding products using the single brand name Farah. Also, the designs of these four products were imported and derived from abroad.
"The differences between the products introduced in 2002 and the new products launched in 2005 are that each of the four products now carries their own brand names and their designs and motifs were totally done and produced by Saudis. A new wall covering borders that carry Islamic design was also introduced, making a total of five new products with different concepts," Mr. Al Rokh said.
The Farah PVC sheets have physical properties that make them safe and durable. They are light in weight, resistance to chemicals, low thermal insulation, high electrical insulation, high flexural strength, good heat and sound insulation, low inflammability, low water absorption, non toxic and recyclable. It is used for display stands, household and institutional furniture, office furniture and partition, signs and name boards.
Ibn Hayyan has the capacity to produce 12 million square meters of wall coverings annually, 6,600 metric tons of PVC sheets, two million square meters of binding products, and eight million square meters of artificial leather. "What we produce will be marketed first in the local market in order to satisfy the high domestic demand, and then we will go into exports, which we are already doing," said Mr. Al Rabeeah, who is also the President of Arabian Petrochemical Company (Petrokemya). Petrokemya provides the basic raw materials to Ibn Hayyan in the production of its products.
According to Mr. Al Rabeeah, a marketing strategy employing Saudi women to market TAYF products - and in the process execute designs and decorations - has been launched in Jubail. The employment of women in the marketing of Ibn Hayyan products will be later on expanded to Eastern Province and eventually throughout the Kingdom.
"Because the TAYF products are mostly for decorative purposes - jobs which are domains for women - we will be creating jobs for many of our young women," he said.Ibn Hayyan is a joint venture company owned by Petrokemya, whose share is 76.3 percent, Binladen Group (16 percent), Tatweer Company (6 percent), and Saudi Ceramics Company (over1.7 percent).
© Saudi Commerce and Economic Review 2005
