Dubai – US systems house Foam Supplies is to open a manufacturing plant in the UAE in September as part of a three-way joint venture. It could also eventually start production in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, according to Yakoob Hassan, managing director of Prime Seal, one of the jv’s partners.
FSI to open in Middle East
Speaking at the UTECH Middle East Foam and Polyurethane Expo, Hassan explained that the jv will concentrate much of its production on rigid insulation foams based around the blowing agent Ecomate (methyl formate). The third party in the jv, local company CIFS, is a rigid PU and PIR insulation manufacturer. The plant will be located in the Jebel Ali Industrial Area, about 35 KM south of the World Trade Centre, Dubai, Hassan said.
FSI’s move was prompted into the region by news that BASF has shut its systems house in the Emirate. Global business director Roy Choudhury said that move had left a big hole. ‘It is an opportunity,’ he said. ‘141b is being phased out and HFO blowing agents are not liquids at these temperatures.’ The city was 40°C on Tuesday 7 June, the first day of the three-day event.
UTECH Middle East Foam and Polyurethane Expo ran from 7-9 June 2020 at the World Trade Centre, Dubai.
