Dh300 million plant set up in Jebel Ali Free zone

Dubai-based JRD International has invested Dh300 million ($80 million) in RMD Board – a composite polypropylene board manufacturing plant that could change construction systems and the way people dress-up interiors – both office and residences.

The RMD Board manufacturing plant – a division of JRD International – has started production. The plant, built on a 40,000 square metre plot of land in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, has created 700 jobs.  This plant will service the GCC region as well as Africa and CIS.

“By next year, this plant will reach 110,000 metric tonnes per year processing capacity of polypropylene. That will make it the largest single-site manufacturing plant of rigid extrusion of polypropylene in the world,” said Anupam Lunavat, managing director of JRD International. “The company plans to reach global production of half a million metric tonnes per annum by 2016.”

 “When in full production, RMD Board will not only help UAE reduce its dependence on imported plywood, particle board, MDFs etc but also raise exports of manufactured products,” Lunawat says.

RMD Board’s wall panels and false ceilings – which currently come in 300 different designs and textures – will soon be available in over a thousand designs.

RMD wall panels could also reduce imports of conventional wall panels if local interiors fit-out companies utilise the locally manufactured RMD wall panels and false ceilings.

According to the GRMC Advisory Services, the GCC wall-panelling market is poised to decline from $6.64 billion in 2011 to $5.28 billion in 2015, due to a slowdown in construction activities in parts of the region.
Lunavat said his company is also planning to invest up to Dh1.5 billion ($400 million) in international expansion which will see the company build 80 lines in seven countries within the next four years.

“Within the next four years, we will set up similar plants in emerging economies such as the BRIC nations and Turkey and North America,” he said.

The many offerings by RMD Board are all water proof, termite resistant, fire retardant, durable, light-weight and 100 per cent recyclable. The use of polypropylene in these engineered products replaces the use of wood. 

These properties make them suitable for both interior and exterior applications such as construction site-fencing, flooring, wall paneling, shuttering, outdoor advertising, billboards, etc.

The shuttering services market in the GCC was estimated at $8.68 billion in 2010, which is expected to reach $9.32 billion in 2015, according to GRMC Advisory Services, a research organisation.
“Our RMD Board can save the contractors a lot of money as RMD Shuttering can be reused as many as 200 times,” Mr. Lunavat says.
 

 

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