SIGMA Paints Saudi Arabia has played a highly visible role at the Future Ceramics’ factory project. On being selected as supplier of choice, the Dammam-based company has provided around 600,000 litres of paint with a total value of around SR500,000 ($133,513) for the development.

“As a world leader in the paint industry, Sigma was the first choice and provided the project with its quality materials and technical services including monitoring the project by its technical service department,” says Ishtiaq Ahmed, project manager for Eastern Trading and Contracting Company, Eastern Province, who played a key role in the approval process.
Sigma’s scope of work at the Future Ceramics factory includes supply of paint as per the specifications and ensuring the right application.
For 70,000 sq m of shop-primed steel structures, two coats of alkyd Sigmacolor semi-gloss with a total volume of 13,000 litres is used.
For the masonry surfaces, which include 50,000 sq m of internal walls, around 6,000 litres of water-based textured Sigma acrylic primer sealer, 50,000 kg of Sigma Sprayplaster (texture), and two coats (12,000 litres) of Saso-approved Sigmacryl Flat acrylic emulsion are being applied.
Future Ceramics’ factory in the Second Industrial Area of Dammam, has a plant area of 277,500 sq m.
Apart from this facility, Sigma is also undertaking other prestigious projects such as the King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), King Faisal University, housing projects for Saudi Aramco, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defence, Maaden projects, high-rises and many private housing as well as villa projects.
The leading paint major recently launched its Guardian Nano, which is claimed to be the most technologically-advanced range of products within the paint industry in the Middle East.
The result of a revolutionary idea translated into a small protective particle against humidity, scratches, dulling and aging, the system is said to offer the ultimate in exterior decorative protection for concrete and cement-based substrates.
The paint system is based on nano-technology, which involves the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale, deals with structures nanometres in size, and entails developing materials or devices within that size.
The revolutionary paint range is truly “out of this world”, says Yanal Shekem, Sigma’s marketing manager, ME. Sigma Paints conducted a series of launches recently to drive home the nano concept as applied to the paint industry.
Sigma Guardian Nano has been engineered in cooperation with the Sigma/PPG laboratories in Europe to ensure that it is not only more than a match for the extreme Middle East exposure conditions but also addresses the common causes of paint failures worldwide, says Sigma’s DTS manager Mike Murphy.
Sigma Guardian Nano – based on the latest nanometric formulations – has been developed with the belief that ultimate protection for buildings can be achieved not only by providing resistance to external elements such as ultraviolet rays, humidity and carbonation but also from superior resistance to the universal challenges of moisture vapour, evaporation, efflorescence and alkalinity, which emanate from the substrates.
“Sigma Guardian Nano is in every sense extraordinary and the technology is unprecedented. With the active nano-particles, Sigma has raised the level of protection to the ‘cosmic’ level,” says Steven Rijkaard, brand manager for Sigma. “Demand for Sigma Guardian Nano is expected to reflect the increasing expectations of architects, consultants, contractors and owners, who recognise the long-term financial benefits of extended paint life protection coupled with superior quality of decoration, which translates to a radiating top coat. Sigma is continuously providing durable protection for homes, properties and buildings, which ultimately translates to considerable cost reductions.”
 “This coating not only protects buildings and structures from the extremely harsh Middle Eastern climate but also resists the main causes of failures emanating from the substrate to which it is applied.
 The superior UV (ultraviolet) resistance, colour fastness and resistance to fading, in combination with low dust pick-up, results in the paint finish looking fresher, brighter and newer for longer,” he adds.
Murphy continues: “Higher resistance to water ingress, particularly at ground level, combined with superb moisture vapour permeability and vice-like gripping adhesion results in a significant reduction in the formation of destructive efflorescence, and the common associated paint failures found around the base of many buildings.”
While there are paint systems available that can resist perhaps one or two of the destructive external elements, Sigma Guardian Nano paint system protects from all the main destructive elements both from the outside and from the inside, he adds.
Sigma with its pioneering 300-year heritage says it is the first company offering the ‘nano fruits’ to the Middle East market.