WITH ongoing contracts worth more than SR286 million ($76.26 million) and new deals just inked, Naba International is not perturbed by the global financial crisis, especially considering that it is currently involved in projects at one of the world’s largest petrochemical developments.

The petrochemical project is being developed by Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company, an affiliate of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) and is managed by Fluor Arabia. Naba International is working on two contracts for the project worth a total of SR65 million. These deals entail design and construction of a main control building, substations and generator buildings and are in their final stages with completion scheduled for next month (June).
Naba’s other ongoing jobs include projects for:
• Sabic/Hadeed, worth SR80.5 million, involving the design and construction of buildings and roads for Hadeed’s logistic improvement project, Phase One and a multipurpose hall;
• Jana, entailing main civil works for the Hassad project consisting of substation buildings, steel structures for supports, a warehouse, drainage systems, site development works, asphalt works, channels under a contract valued at SR52 million.
• Sipchem, for whom it is carrying out two contracts worth a total of over SR30 million. These comprise provision of engineering, procurement and construction services for a central control building, utilities and guard houses on a lumpsum turnkey basis and design, construction of substation buildings;
• Royal Commission, worth $7.1 million;
• Kemya, worth SR14.6 million; and
• Sabic’s fire training centre expansion, worth SR22.5 million.
Established in 1974 as Naba Contracting Enterprises, the company has grown steadily since its inception to become a well-respected, multi-disciplined engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor with a sizeable presence in the Eastern and Central provinces of Saudi Arabia. Among Naba’s clients are high-profile institutions in the industrial sector such as Sabic and Saudi Aramco and government bodies such as Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and Ministry of Defence.
The company offers a complete service package, including engineering design service, procurement, fabrication, construction, installation, testing and commissioning through to handover.
Commenting on the impact of the credit crunch, business development manager Peter Wilson says: “The construction scene in Saudi Arabia has obviously been affected by happenings outside the kingdom and a subsequent fall in demand for oil-based products. As a result, some major projects were temporarily shelved. However, we have seen recently that some of these projects are now being reactivated and will go ahead later in the year.”
Unlike some companies, which got a taste of the global downturn last year, Naba actually recorded its best performance during 2008.
“We are not immune to the global financial downturn,” he says, “however, last year was actually our best in terms of business volumes – which exceeded SR300 million. The first quarter of this year has seen an inevitable slowdown but we have recently been receiving many requests for quotation, which is always a good indication of where the market is heading.
 “In view of the global crisis, we are aggressively marketing our company and actively seeking out business leads through any previous clients and potential new clients. At the same time, we are exploring ways to operate more efficiently and effectively by reducing costs without reducing our capacity to provide our clients with a satisfactory service.”
Naba has recently secured two contracts for prestigious clients, which together exceed SR70 million, while negotiations are under way for projects worth up to SR100 million, which are expected to be finalised in the coming weeks. “Considering the current financial climate, we feel is this is an achievement. So, overall we see our prospects as very good for maintaining a sustainable level of turnover,” Wilson adds.
Some of the recently-completed projects were at Tasnee, where it carried out five contracts worth a total of SR15.9 million, including site preparation works, supply and installation of a perimeter fence and construction of a warehouse (for Samsung), construction of temporary site facilities (for Technimont), and civil works for a sea water and cooling water GRP system (Raymond); two lumpsum turnkey contracts for Al Rajhi Bank’s Al Ruse and Al Quayeah branches worth a total of over SR8 million; and fabrication and installation of portable buildings for Ibn Al Baytar’s administration complex worth SR1.3 million.
Within the past year, Naba has recognised the need to bolster the middle and upper management of the company and has brought in a very experienced management team with a brief to develop the firm and take it to the next level.
The company plans to continue expanding its current client base and developing the mechanical division through joint ventures with high-profile specialist overseas companies. It also plans to expand its activities within the kingdom to include Jeddah and the Western region.
Naba International is headquartered in the Jubail Industrial City, and employs over 1,500 people. The company has branches in Al Khobar and Riyadh.